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THE  UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

LIBRARY 


THE  WILMER  COLLECTION 

OF  CIVIL  WAR  NOVELS 

PRESENTED  BY 

RICHARD  H.  WILMER,  JR. 


^ 
^>« 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/yankeedoodledixiOOryal 


Yankee  Doodle  Dixie; 


OR, 


LCOYE  THE  UlGKm  OP  LciPE. 


AN  HISTORICAL  ROMANCE, 

Illustrative  of  Life  and  Love  in  an  Old  Virginia  Country  Home, 

and  also  an   explanatory   account  of  the  passions, 

Prejudices  and  Opinions  which  culminated 

IN  the  Civil  War. 


By  J.  V.  RYALS,  of   Virginia. 


RICHMOND,  VA. : 

Everett  Waddey  Co.,  Stationers  and  Printers. 

1890. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1890,  in  tlie  Office  ol 
Librarian  of  Congress,  by  J.  V.  Ryals, 


INTRODUCTION. 


In  submitting  this  book  for  public  perusal,  the  author  does  so 
with  feelings  which  none  but  those  who  have  essayed  to  enter  the 
domain  of  a  literary  life  can  possibly  appreciate ;  for,  while  the 
lights  which  hope  and  novelty,  courage  and  ambition  kindled 
along  the  paths  of  labor  as  the  work  progressed  did  seem  to  glow 
with  something  of  color,  now,  that  the  task  is  accomplished,  seem 
to  burn  with  a  feeble,  flickering  flame,  and  I  turn  f!%m  penning 
the  last  line  back  to  the  first  page,  and  sigh  when  I  say,  I  would 
that  it  were  better  done  or  not  done  at  all.  So  far  the  work  has 
been  mine — wholly  mine — and  the  thought  that  my  hands  found 
employment  congenial  with  the  feelings  of  my  heart  has  been  a 
real  pleasure  and  a  substantial  comfort ;  but  soon  the  book  will 
belong  to  the  public,  and  its  many  defects  will  be  noticed ; 
while  its  merits,  if  indeed  it  has  any,  will  be  passed  over  in 
silence.  I  have  tried  to  place  truth  and  virtue,  honor,  patriotism, 
and  principle  in  that  light  in  which  they  should  be  viewed  by  the 
world.  I  have  tried  to  exalt  purity  of  character  and  chastity  of 
thought,  because  I  believe  there  lies  the  only  foundation  for  real 
happiness.  I  have  tried  to  give  a  clear,  concise,  and  accurate 
statement  of  the  facts  and  circumstances  which  culminated 
iu  the  war  between  the  States,  because  I  believe  a  full 
knowledge  of  all  the  facts,  and  a  clear  understanding  of  the  feel- 
ings and  opinions  to  which  they  give  rise,  i3  the  only  ground  upon 
which  the  North  and  the  South  can  meet  in  friendly  greeting, 
and  the  only  means  that  can  be  employed  that  will  destroy 
sectional  prejudices  and  sectional  animosities.  I  have  adopted 
the  style  of  fiction  and  the  language  of  romance,  because  I  believe 
that  many  who  ought  to  read  and  learn  the  truth  would  never 
peruse  the  matter-of-fact  manner  of  historical  writing.  Nothing 
has  been  set  down  in  malice,  nothing  is  cherished  in  unkindness. 
I  have  tried  to  speak  a  word  of  comfort  here  and  leave  a  mark  of 

603222 


iv  INTRODUCTION. 

■warning  there,  hoping  that  some  may  find  help  in  my  earnest 
endeavors,  but  if  Yankee  Doodle  Dixie  is  to  wholly  fail  and  fall 
to  earth  accomplishing  no  good,  it  is  hoped  that  from  its  ashes 
will  arise  no  thought  calculated  to  do  the  slightest  harm.  I  will 
not  apologize  for  having  taken  the  privilege  of  using  such  lan- 
guage as  seems  to  me  would  express  the  thoughts,  feelings,  and 
opinions  of  the  people  of  the  South  during  the  exciting  days  of 
ISeO-'Gl,  but  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  say  I  have  put  not  a  single  word 
in  the  mouth  of  any  Northern  man.  The  quotations  made  from 
the  speeches  dehvered  at  the  Philadelphia  mass-meeting  and  the 
Albany  convention,  as  also  the  extracts  from  the  Northern  press, 
are  strictly  historical.  A  few  anachronisms,  in  regard  to  the  dates 
of  certain  battles,  have  been  indulged,  in  order  to  keep  the  story 
well  connected,  for  which,  kind  consideration  is  humbly  craved. 

J.  V.  RYALS. 
Clifton  Forge,  Va.,  November,  1890. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter. 


I.  Page. 
The  Presidential  Campaign  of  18G0— The  Storm  of  Political  Contention  Brew- 
ing—The Dark  Clouds  of  War  Rising— Virginia  Pleads  for  Peace— Descrip- 
tion of  the  Civil  War  that  Came 9-11 

II. 
Education,  Surroundings,  Circumstances,  &c..  Shape  our  Thoughts,  Control 
our  Feelings,  and  so  lorm  our  Characters— Description  of  Charles  Reed- 
Virginia  Scenery ;  Reflections  Thereon— Reed  is  hurt  by  a  Fall— Helen's 

Distress— Old  Ben  Introduced 12-18 

III. 
Charles  Reed  and  William  Dodge  enter  College— Tribute  to  Hampden  Sid- 
ney—Disposiiions  of  Keed  and  Dodge— Their  Characteristics,  Ambitions, 
Ac— Reed's  Determination— The  Sophomorical  Sparks— Dodge  Tells  a  Story 
on  Brown— The  Debate  on  the  Missouri  Compromise— The  Effects  of  Am- 
bition—Dodge Defeated,  Swears  Vengeance  Against  Reed— Walker,  the 
Ladies'  Man— Reed's  Speech— History  of  the  Missouri  Compromise— Reed 
Refuses  to  be  a  Candidate  for  the  Medal— Is  Insulted  by  Dodge— Reed 
then  Runs  for  the  Medal ;  is  Elected— The  Supper— The  Naughty,  Saucy 

Girls— Tom  Price,  the  Dry  Wit 19-71 

IV. 
Woman's  Love  the  Crowning  Glory  of  Man's  Life— The  ignoble  Judge  others 
by  their  Own  Standard— F.  F.  V.-ism— Dodge  Doubtful  of  his  Parentage- 
Reed  is  Told  he  will  Win  First  Honor ;  Wants  to  Give  it  to  Dodge ;  is 
Threatened  ^vith  a  Ducking— Jlr.  Reed  not  a  Colonel— Visits  Hampden 

Sidney,  &c 72-89 

V. 
The  Loveliness  of  College  Hill— Music,  Poetrv,  Peace,  and  Plenty— Recollec- 
tions of  College  Life— Dr.  Atkinson  declares  Reed  First-Honor  Man- 
Dodge  Takes  it  Hard— Ovation  to  Reed— The  Fall  of  the  Straw  Man— Dodge 

Swears  the  Vendetta 90-97 

VI. 

The  Virginia  Dinner— Dodge  goes  Home 98-100 

VIL 

The  Grove— Beverly  Moore— his  Loves ;  his  Servants 100-103 

VITL 
Helen  T^Ioore— The  Stream  of  Time— Tiie  Setting  Sun— The  Beginning  of 
Love-Days  of  Make-Believe— Spiritualism— Helen's  Presentiment— The 
Bridal  Day  Appointed— The  Home  of  the  Itloores- The  Fascination  of 
Dodge ;  he  Poisons  Colonel  Moore's  Mind  with  Spiritualism— Mrs.  Moore ; 
her  Father;  his  Death— Helen's  Birth— Table  Rapping— The  Dilemma- 
Woman's  Love  when  it  is  Love— Dodge  Sings,  "  Hear  Me,  Love  " 104-130 

IX. 

Old  Ben  Suspects  Dodge— Dodge  feels  Detected 131-134 

X. 
Jeffersonian  Democracy— Beverly  Moore  and  Dabney  Reed ;  their  Character- 
istics ;  Politics 134-142 

XL 
John  T.   Thornton   Pleads  for  Conciliation— Dabney  Reed  Numbers  the 
Wrongs  of  the  South— Speeches  in  the  South  Carolina  Legislature— The 
Real  Issue  in  the  Question  of  Slaverv 143-167 


Vi,  CONTENTS. 

'  Paok. 

XII. 
Colonel  Moore  Puzzled  by  the  Idea  of  Spiritualism.  .  .  .-,.-.  .-.^.i.l5^«"^v  168-170 

XIII. 
Dodge  Takes  the  Photograph  Copy  of  the  Picture  of  Mrs.  Moore.  •  .  .  .  .   1(1-1/8 

XIV. 
Dodpe  Arranges  his  Magic  Lantern— Colonel  Moore's  Prayerful  Reflections— 
His  Vision— Ue  Falls  and  Faints 1/9-187 

XV. 

The  Mystery  of  Colonel  Moore's  Hurt- Charles'  Love  for  Ilelen 188-194 

XVI. 

Old  Ben  as  a  Philosopher— His  Love  for  his  Mother 195-201 

XVII. 
Virginia  the  Advocate  of  Peace— The  Prayer  Vain— Wrongs  done  in  the  Name 
of  Justice— Conscience  the  Guide— What  is  Conscience— Dr.  Draper  on  the 

Cause  of  the  War 202-207 

XVIII. 

The  Philadelphia  Mass  Meeting— The  Two  Paces 208-217 

XIX. 
The  Effect  of  the  Vision  on  Colonel  Moore— Dodge  Continues  to  Poison  his 
Mind— Presentiments— Somnambulism— The  Climax  of  Dodge's  Perfidy- 
Conflict  Between  Right  and  Wrong 218-228 

XX. 
The  Race— The  Pet  Deer— The  Haunted  House— The  Doyle  Family— The 

Murder 229-240 

XXI. 
Burning  of  the  Haunted  House— Kelley  the  Stranger— Negro  Superstition  .   241-244 

XXII. 

Dodge  feels  Old  Ben's  Suspicion— Dodge  held  in  Check  by  Helen's  Puritv- 

Man  Knows  the  Difference  Between  a  viere  Woman  and  a  Lady— The 

Woman  of  the  Period- Helen  the  True  Lady— True  Love ;  its  Effects— The 

Will   of    Colonel   Moore— Dod^e  Contemplates  Murder— The   English— 

Thacker,  the  Anglicised  American— Origin  of  F.  F.  V 245-265 

XXIII. 

The  Fox  Hunt— Ben  Saves  the  Life  of  Charles 266-270 

XXIV. 
Confederacv  Formed— Resolutions  of  '9S-'99— Webster's  Admission— Mass- 
chusetts  threatens  Secession— Jeff.  Davis'  Resolutions  of  ISCO— Davis  not  a 
Traitor— Lincoln  on  Right  of  Revolution— Grcclcy  Admits  Secession— 
Thirteen  States  Violate  the  Constitution— John  Brown's  Raid;  his  Consti- 
tution  27I-2S5 

XXV. 

Dodge  Feels  the  Sting  of  a  Guilty  Conscience 286-292 

XXVI. 

C  harles  Proposes  to  Set  Ben  Free- Ben  at  the  White  House 294-302 

XXVII. 
Virginia  Loves  the  Union ;  Opposes  Secession ;  Plans  the  Peace  Conference — 

Governor  Chase's  Compromise ;  he  Names  the  Ultimatum 303-312 

XXVIII. 

Dodge  and  his  Mother— Thirst  for  Revenge  makes  Dodge  a  Demon 313-315 

XXIX. 

Story  of  the  Broken  Heart— The  Love  of  Charles  and  Helen 316-323 

XXX. 
State  Sovereignty— Buchanan  ;  Black ;  Douglas— Opposed  to  Coercion— The 

Albany  Convention— Reed  in  tlie  Virginia  Convention 324-336 

XXXL 
The  Mvsterious  Stranger  at  the  Kelley  Cabin— The  Love  of  a  Dog— Attempt 
to  Kill  Charles 337-347 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

Page. 
XXXII. 
Fort  Sumter ;  Attempt  to  Reinforce — ^Mr.  Lincoln  Non-Committal  as  to  his 
Policy;   Reason  Why  he  Might  be  So— Good   Men   have  heen  Called 

Traitors 318-355 

XXXIII. 
Woman's  Moral  Courage — Charles  Almost  Gone — Woman  the  Comfort  of 

Man's  Lile 356-360 

XXXIV. 

Dodge  Hurt  by  the  Dog ;  is  at  Hotel  in  Washington 361-3G3 

XXXV, 
Cameron's  Duplicity— Sumter  Reduced— Lincoln's   Call  for  75,000  Men- 
Comments  of  the  Northern  Press— The  South  Rush  to  Anns — ^Virginia 
Flames  up  a  Pyramid  of  Fire— Lincoln's  Second  Call  for  Troops— Charles 
Reed  Ordered  to  Harper's  Ferry ;  his  Heart  Fails  him— Helen  Bids  him 

go— Woman  Braver  than  Man 364-383 

XXXVI. 
Virginia  Invaded— Dodge  Turns  Spy— The  "On  to  Richmond  "—Battle  of 
Manassas— Charles  Wounded— Southern  Women— Helen  goes  to  Manassas— 

Tells  her  Dream  to  General  Reed 384^412 

XXXVII. 

Ben  Sent  to  Shadow  Dodge 413-423 

XXXVIII. 
Splendors  of  the  Valley  Campaign— Helen  and  Charles  at  Home— Love  the 

Light  of  Life 424-434 

XXXIX. 
Ben  and  Prosser  Shadow  Dodge  in  Washington ;  Capture  his  Satchel— Pro- 
posed Raid  on  Canal— Deceived  by  one  you  Love 435-448 

XL. 

Banks  Divides  his  Army— Battle  of  Kernstown 448-457 

XLI. 

Prosser  Returns  Dodge  his  Satchel ;  Bitterness  of  Dodge 458-464 

XLIL 
Jackson  Falls  Back  to  Elk  Rim— Belle  Boyd— Lincoln's  Clemency ;  his  Dis- 
position     465-470 

XLIII. 
Success  of  Federal  Troops— Dodge  and  Captain  Green— Dodge  Feels  his 

Heart  Fail 470-479 

XLIV. 

Battle  of  McDowell ....,.., 480-482 

XLV. 
The  Raid— The  Little  Bugler— Miss  Helen  Abducted— Battle  in  the  Gap  .  .  .   483-497 

XLVI. 

Dodge  Returns  to  Washington ;  Calls  on  Cameron ;  Yields  to  Temptation  .  .   497-500 

XLVII. 

Interview  Between  Green  and  Charles 500-503 

XLVIIL 
Name  the  Wedding-Day— Dodge  at  Jackson's  Headquarters— Jackson  Sends 
druse  Dispatch— Dodge  Shadowed ;  Watches  the  Flooded  Waters;  Faints- 
Banks  Falls  in  a  Trap— Dodge  Finds  Out  who  is  his  Father 504-514 

XLIX. 

Battle  of  Winchester— Battle  of  Port  Republic 515-517 

L. 
Dodge  Courtmartialed ;  Convicted— Ben  takes  the  News  to  Melrose— Helen 

Finds  out  Who  he  Is— Her  Distress 517-523 

LL 
The  Efifort  to  Save  Dodge— His  Death— The  Conclusion 


DEDICATION. 


Yankee  Doodle  Dixie. 

I  believe  in  the  motto  Jiatjustitia,  mat  ccelum.  I  therefore  offer, 
as  a  tribute  of  respect,  the  dedication  of  this  book  to  the  memory 
of  such  as  conscientiously  fought  and  heroically  fell  in  the  late 
war  between  the  States,  defending  the  faith  they  maintained  and 
the  principles  they  cherished  according  to  the  best  light  which 
guided  their  hearts,  whether  thej'  "wore  the  Blue"  or  ''loved 
the  Gray."  To  the  departed  spirits  of  the  conscientious  sacrifice 
I  breathe  a  fervent  requiescat  inj^ace;  to  the  brave  men  who  still 
survive  that  heroic  struggle  I  offer  the  hand  of  a  soldier  and  the 
respect  of  a  comrade ;  to  every  ripple  that  is  left  on  the  sea  of  sec- 
tional prejudice,  and  to  every  wave  that  still  ruffles  the  waters 
of  sectional  passion,  I  say,  "  Peace  be  still ! "  If  each  one  fought 
as  each  one  thought— for  his  home  and  for  his  country — let  his 
conscience  be  the  shield  of  his  protection  from  obloquy  and  from 
calumny.  True  patriotism  is  sincere  love  of  country,  joined  to  a 
conscientious  devotion  to  duty.  To  the  true  patriot  let  all  honor 
be  given  and  worthy  praise  be  awarded. 

The  Author. 


Yankee  Doodle  Dixie 


CHAPTER  I. 


IT  was  in  the  early  part  of  the  fall,  in  the  year  1860 
that  year  so  memorable  in  the  political  history  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  more  than  memorable  in  the  history  of  the 
American  Union.  From  the  very  beginning  of  the  presi- 
dential campaign,  the  storm  of  political  contention  had 
raged  with  terrible  fury ;  like  a  tornado,  passion  and 
prejudice  and  sectional  pride  rose, raged  and  roared.  The 
North  was  arrayed  against  the  South,  and  the  South 
against  the  North;  crimination  and  recrimination,  of 
the  most  bitter  nature,  were  indulged  in  by  the  contest- 
ants in  all  parts  of  the  Union.  Party  warfare  never  had, 
in  all  the  hotly  contested  elections  of  the  past,  been 
pushed  to  such  extreme.  Every  home  was  a  battle-field, 
and  every  fireside  a  political  arena,  where  adverse 
opinions  clashed  and  brought  forth  the  sparks  of  passion. 
The  very  air  seemed  hot  with  the  spirit  of  war, — "  Some 
fiery  serpent  hovering  in  the  atmosphere  pouring  down 
mischief" — brother  was  arrayed  against  brother,  and 
father  against  son.  Those  who  had  been  nurtured  at 
the  same  breast,  played  around  the  same  knee,  courted 
the  same  smile  and  shared  the  same  caresses,  were  now 
divided  as  the  waves  of  the  sea ;  they  thought  differently, 
they  felt  differently,  and  they  pushed  their  differences  to 
the  farthest  extreme. 

(9) 


10  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

It  was  often  quoted  by  the  warlike  Romans,  inter  arma 
leges  silent  (in  the  midst  of  arms  the  laws  are  silent);  but 
here,  in  the  midst  of  paciion;  reason  itself  was  dethroned. 
It  was  plain  and  manifest  to  all  the  world,  that  our 
iXr.piry  (our  glorious  country,  our  grand  and  noble 
country),  the  land  where  freedom's  cradle  had  been 
rocked  by  the  hands  of  affectionate  fathers,  and  liberty 
of  conscience  baptized  in  the  blood  of  patriotism,  was 
now  upon  the  -very  verge  of  civil  war. 

The  dark  clouds  were  gathering  rU  along  the  horizon, 
and  darker  and  darker  they  seemed  to  grow  as  onward 
and  upward  they  rolled;  deep  thunders  muttered  as 
though  in  suppressed  wrath,  whilst  now  and  then  the 
angry  lightnings  leaped  forth  and  wrapped  the  very 
earth  in  its  dreadful  blaze  of  furious  fire.  All  saw  the 
black  clouds  gathering;  all  heard  the  deep  thunders 
rolling ;  all  felt  war's  hot  breath  blowing.  Some  there 
were  who  waved  ihQ  furies  welcome ;  some  who  stood  and 
mocked  it  all  an  idle  show ,  while  some  in  pain  stood 
amazed  and  gazed  in  wonder  deep  that  man  so  blessed 
could  be  so  blind. 

There  were  many  in  Virginia  who  loved  the  Union, 
and  who  strove  hard  to  preserve  it  They  strove  to  roll 
back  those  waves  of  war  that  were  being  driven  upon 
them ;  they  plead  for  peace,  and  implored  a  preservation 
of  the  Union ;  they  called  upon  the  glories  of  the  past 
and  depicted  the  horrors  of  a  civil  war  ;  they  believed  in 
their  hearts  in  the  constitutional  right  of  secession ;  but 
in  their  hearts  they  could  not  find  the  wish  for  existing 
causes  to  disrupt  that  tie  which  bound  these  States 
together  like  a  sister's  love.  They  knew  that  many  of  the 
States  of  the  North  had  passed  obnoxious  liberty  bills 
and  placed  among  their  statutes  anti-fugitive  acts,  in 
clear  contravention  of  that  clause  in  the  Federal  consti- 
tution which  provided  for  the  rendition  of  fugitive  slaves; 

m- 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  11 

they  knew  that  these  acts  of  their  sister  States  beyond 
the  Potomac  were  deliberate,  wilful  and  full  of  design ; 
they  knew  that  the  echoes  of  the  impious  tread  of  John 
Brown's  hostile  feet  and  the  insulting  war-cry  of  his 
murderous  band,  had  hardly  ceased  to  repeat  its  reyerbera- 
tions  along  the  sloping  heights  around  Harper's  Ferry, 
and  that  all  over  the  North,  the  man  who  came  down  to 
burn,  to  murder  and  to  massacre,  was  named  a  hero,  and 
proclaimed  a  martyr ;  yet,  despite  these  wrongs,  despite 
these  insults,  despite  this  injustice,  despite  the  bad  faith 
and  violated  obligations,  there  were  many  who  clung 
to  the  Union  and  begged  for  peace,  begged  their  brethren 
of  the  North  and  begged  their  kindred  of  the  South, 
begged  their  impulsive  brethren  of  the  South,  to  stay 
the  rushing  tide  of  angry  passion;  begged  their  long- 
loved  brethren  of  the  North  not  to  strike  the  blow  of 
correction,  but  to  each  and  to  all,  their  prayers  were  vain, 
their  deep  and  earnest  invocations  fell  like  dead  leaves 
upon  a  shoreless  sea  of  sand. 

The  surging  caldron  of  political  fanaticism  was  boil- 
ing with  a  heat  too  intense  to  be  assuaged ;  so  war,  cruel 
civil  war,  war  full  of  bloody  butcheries  came  and  crowned 
the  climax  with  woeful  inhumanities ;  a  war  full  of  wounds 
and  full  of  wrongs ;  full  of  terrors  and  full  of  tears ;  full 
of  death  and  dreadful  deeds ;  full  of  horrors  and  heart- 
rending scenes ;  full  of  smoke,  sin  and  suffering — blackest 
sin — endless  sorrow.  A  war  that  devastated  our  sunny 
land  like  a  sweeping  fire ;  a  war  that  left  happy  homes  a 
heap  of  smouldering  ashes,  and  made  of  smiling  hills 
and  lovely  valleys  a  sepulchre  or  a  desert.  0 !  cruel, 
cruel,  cruel  war!  thou  hast  preserved  the  Union  of 
States:  thou  hast  defeated  the  sin  of  secession,  but  thou 
canst  not  give  back  to  the  weeping  widow  the  murdered 
husband,  nor  to  the  homeless  orphan  the  father  slain, 
neither  canst  thou  wash  away  the  dark  stain  of  Christian 
blood  that  so  greatly  mars  the  glory  of  thy  achievements! 


CHAPTER  II. 

YOUR  pardon,  gentle  reader,  is  most  humbly  craved,  if 
the  circumstances  alluded  to  in  the  opening  chapter 
of  this  story  seems  a  digression  too  remote  to  be  justified 
by  the  narration  which  is  to  follow.  It  is  no  part  of 
the  writer's  purpose  to  give  a  detailed  history  of  that 
most  unnatural  and  most  unholy  war.  To  the  historian 
that  privilege  of  right  justly  belongs;  but  that  war,  and 
the  circumstances  of  which  it  was  but  the  culmination, 
had  £0  much  to  do  in  forming  the  characters  and  giv- 
ing coloring  to  the  lives  of  those  who  are  to  figure  in 
this  romance,  it  is  hoped  that  the  patience  of  the  indul- 
gent reader  will  not  be  offended. 

No  man  can  live  and  not  have  his  life,  to  some  extent, 
moulded  by  the  circumstances  by  which  he  is  surrounded 
our  characters  morally,  politically  and  socially,  take  their 
coloring  from  the  light  which  is  cast  upon  them;  our 
thoughts  and  feelings  and  actions  are  but  the  grand  result- 
ant of  all  the  partially  conflicting  forces  to  wiiich  we  are 
subjected.  This  being  our  nature,  and  our  nature  being 
the  impress  of  the  divine  will,  the  question  as  to  how  far 
we  are  answerable  for  errors  which  are  directly  the  result 
of  nature's  laws,  can  only  be  correctly  decided  by  divine 
wisdom.  Education  has  much  to  do  with  our  thoughts; 
our  thoughts  rule  and  govern  our  feelings ;  our  feelings 
direct  and  control  our  actions,  and  our  actions  stamp 
our  characters.  So  you  who  would  follow  the  lives  of 
those  that  are  to  appear  upon  the  scene  of  action  in  this 
narrative  will,  pray,  judge  of  their  actions  and  motives 
in  accord  and  connection  with  the  circumstances  by 
which  they  were  surrounded. 
(i2j 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  IS 

They,  for  the  most  part,  were  Virginians;  and  if  a 
Virginian  loves  Virginia  more  than  he  loves  any  other 
land,  lay  it  not  to  his  life  for  an  offense,  nor  to  his  honor 
as  a  stain.  Give  him  at  least  the  privilege  to  love  his] 
dear  old  mother,  though  poor  and  homely  she  may  be 

But  to  return  to  our  story  and  begin  again  at  tho  very 
beginning.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and,  as  we 
have  said,  in  the  early  fall  of  the  year  1860.  It  was  a 
lovely  afternoon ;  the  sky  was  clear ;  the  air  was  fresh ; 
the  sun  was  bright ;  the  grass  was  green,  and  the  trees 
were  glorious  in  their  robes  of  varied  hue.  Nature 
indeed  seemed  pleased  with  her  beauty,  and  smiled  the 
smile  of  sweet  contentment.  It  was  just  such  a  day, 
such  an  hour,  and  such  surroundings  as  the  lover  of 
nature  and  the  worshiper  of  God  delights  to  contem- 
plate ;  for  beauty  is  divinity  in  the  material  form. 

As  the  sun  dipped  low  towards  the  west,  and  the 
shadows  of  the  tall  trees  stretched  out  their  arms  over  the 
landscape,  a  horseman  solitary  and  alone,  save  in  the 
companionship  of  his  noble  steed  and  his  ever-faithful 
dog,  was  seen  slowly  winding  his  way  along  an  unfre- 
quented bridle  path,  which  lay  at  the  foot  of  one  of  those 
beautiful  and  picturesque  hills,  which  are  so  often  seen 
in  the  rich  rolling  Piedmont  country  of  the  far-famed  and 
grandly  historic  Virginia.  The  rider  was  evidently  a 
young  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  the  full  glow  of 
health ;  manhood  had  ripened  on  his  brow,  and  the  fruit 
was  physical  development  and  intellectual  culture.  He 
was  tall,  graceful  and  faultlessly  proportioned ;  high  fore- 
head, broad  and  brown ;  hair  dark ;  clear  cut  profile ;  eyes 
big,  blazinjOf  with  light  and  full  of  expression ;  his  lips 
were  thin,  .iosing  with  the  force  of  firm,  fixed  thought 
and  deciiion  of  character.  The  world  would  have  pro- 
nounced him  a  remarkably  handsome  man ;  his  friends 
would  have  said  not  so  handsome,  but  splendidly  formed 


14  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

and  nobly  featured.  There  was  something  about  the  man 
that  impressed  you  pleasantly;  fixed  your  attention  and 
engaged  your  interest.  In  his  presence  you  could  but 
feel  his  attraction,  and  that  attraction  was  pleasant  and 
agreeable.  To  name  at  once  the  source  of  this  mesmeric 
influence  would  be  a  difficult  matter;  it  is  easier  far, 
to  state  the  fact  than  to  explain  the  cause;  but  it  would 
seem  the  result  was  due  to  a  happy  combination  of  char- 
acter revealed  in  a  manl}'-  form  and  physical  beauty,  moral 
worth  and  suavity  of  manner,  dignified  bearing  and 
unmistakable  intellectuality.  As  he  advanced  along  the 
hill,  he  seemed  deeply  absorbed  in  thought.  He  held  the 
reins  loosely,  and  left  his  horse  to  its  own  guidance.  He 
wore  a  short  shooting-jacket,  high-topped  boots  and  a 
broad-brimmed  light  felt  hat.  Across  the  pommel  of  his 
saddle  he  carried  a  sporting  rifle  of  small  size,  but  of  the 
most  approved  pattern.  It  would  seem  that  he  had  shot 
well  that  afternoon,  for  from  the  tree  of  his  saddle  some 
dozen  or  more  squirrels  dangled.  As  he  rode  forward 
along  the  path,  he  seemed  wholly  unconscious  of  the 
splendid  scenery  and  engaging  beauty  which  nature 
unfolded  in  every  surrounding.  Slowly  on  up  the  hill  he 
came,  until  he  gained  the  crest.  Then  he  drew  up  his 
reins  and  brought  liis  horse  to  a  stand.  He  turned  hali 
around  in  his  saddle  and  looked  back  over  the  landscape. 
"Lovely,  ahl  lovely  !"  ho  said.  "That  is  so  lovely — such 
variety;  such  blending  of  colors;  so  exquisitely  beautiful. 
And  that  sky,  too,  that  is  more  than  lovel}" — what  rich^ 
ness  there  I  Such  glorious  beauty;  such  grandeur;  such 
radiance,  and  such  splendorl  See  those  tints  of  gold 
mingling  with  the  silver.  The  artist's  brush  could  never 
give  that  picture  to  man.  The  poet'g  dream  could  not 
produce  it.  That  is  God's  handiwork — the  all-wise,  the 
all-merciful  God.  Who  could  look  upon  that  landscape, 
that  sky,  contemplate  that  matchless  splendor,  that  glow- 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  16 

ing  beauty  for  one  moment,  and  then  say  within  his  heart, 
there  is  no  God  ?  "  The  face  of  the  young  man  was  hghted 
with  the  glow  of  enthusiam.  He  loved  the  beautiful — he 
loved  nature's  loveliness.  They  were  to  him  God's  reve- 
lation— the  record  of  His  power;  His  goodness;  His  mercy; 
His  glory ;  His  infinite  mind ;  His  spirit  divine ;  His  omnip- 
otence, and  His  omnipresence.  The  young  man  had 
spoken  earnestly  and  Mdth  deep  reverence.  His  soul  was 
full  of  deep  love  and  prayerful  devotion.  For  some  time 
then  he  gazed  in  silence,  his  lips  moving,  but  there  was 
no  voice  to  be  wafted  on  the  winds ;  the  pinions  of  prayer 
bore  his  thoughts  upward  to  the  throne  of  mercy.  And 
then  the  face  of  the  young  man — so  bright,  so  sweetly 
expressive — changed.  A  shadow  passed  over  his  brow, 
and  joy  gave  way  to  sadness.  Again  he  spoke,  commun- 
ing with  himself.  His  voice  was  low  and  full  of  sorrow. 
"Oh,  who  could  look  upon  that  scene  and  in  his  heart  of 
hearts  consent  to  mar  its  beauty  with  the  smoke  of  battle? 
And  yet,  there  are  many,  yes,  many,  and  some,  too,  among 
those  I  love,  both  North  and  South,  bent  on  secession — 
bent  on  coercion;  bent  on  war.  I  know  that  I  love  the 
Union ;  I  know  I  love  our  grand  and  noble  country.  This 
whole  land,  from  Maine  to  Mexico,  is  dear  to  my  heart, 
but,  far  above  the  whole,  I  love  my  dear  old  native  Vir- 
ginia— my  mother  State.  Yes,  your  every  hill  and  valley 
is  dear  to  my  soul.  I  love  your  glory  and  I  love  your 
honor,  even  more  than  I  love  the  life-blood  that  warms 
my  veins.  Yes,  my  mother  of  mothers,  I  love  you,  even 
as  I  love  my  own  sweet  Helen — Helen,  my  own,  my  pre- 
cious Helen!"  At  the  mention  of  that  name,  the  face  of 
the  young  man  was  again  lighted  with  joy  and  gladness. 
If  possible,  a  brighter  light,  a  brighter  smile,  a  brighter 
hope,  a  more  radiant  joy,  lit  up  his  countenance. 

He  turned  quicklv,  gathered  up  his  reins,  and  said : 
"On  Flora, on,  let's  on'"  The  beautiful  black  mare  bounded 


16  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIfi.. 

avray  at  the  word — swept  the  field  in  a  gallop — leaped 
the  fence  and  turned  down  the  main  road.  "  Yonder  is 
her  home — ^j-'es,  yonder  is  the  beautiful  home  of  my 
sweet  pet.  On,  Flora,  on,  we  w411  soon  be  there;  and  I 
will  banish  all  of  my  sad  thoughts  in  the  light  of  her 
love,  and  exchange  all  my  nice  game  for  one  kiss  of  her 
sweet  hand." 

At  tliis  moment  a  young  man  seated  by  the  roadside 
partially  concealed  from  view  by  the  thick  undergrowth, 
started  up  just  in  front  of  the  rider.  The  spirited  mara 
was  startled  by  the  sudden  and  so  unexpected  appearance 
nf  the  stranger,  shied  terribly  to  the  right,  tho  girth 
broke,  and  the  rider  fell  heavily  to  the  ground.  "Damn 
it,  the  fool  has  let  his  horse  throw  him;  but  I  forget,  I 
was  in  contract  with  promised  good  behavior  while  here 
not  to  use  expressive  expletives,"  said  the  waysido  stranger 
as  he  stepped  forward  from  his  cover.  But  seeing  that 
the  unfortunate  horseman  did  not  rise,  the  hero  of  tlie 
"expressive  expletive"  advanced  and  said:  "Helloo,  my 
man;  not  hurt,  I  hope.  You  should  be  more  careful  how 
you  make  fast  your  saddle.  You  are  lucky  if  your  reck- 
less riding  has  not  cost  you  a  broken  bone."  With  this 
most  feeling  salutation  the  man  of  "promised  good  beha- 
vior "  took  hold  of  the  prostrate  rider  and  attempted  to 
lift  the  victim  of  the  mishap  from  the  ground ;  but  the 
rude  assistance  only  caused  the  wounded  man  to  groan 
heavily  from  deep  pain.  "  By  the  oath  of  the  infidels  " — 
"the  great  Hercules,"  said  the  man  of  the  expressivo 
expletive — "I  ought  to  know  that  face.  It  is  Charles 
Reed,  or  it  is  a  sanctified  sinner.  I  ought  to  know  that 
face  though  it  were  marked  with  the  contortions  of  death, 
much  less  the  momentary  unconsciousness  of  a  trivial 
hurt.  By  the  shades  of  Nemesis,  I  have  cursed  it  often 
enough  to  remember." 

"  I  owe  Charles  Heed  an  old  score,  and  I  am  here  to  pay 
the  obligation  to  the  avenging  goddess  j  but  this  is  not 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  17 

the  lime  nor  the  place,  nor  is  it  the  manner  my  mind 
marked  out.  Brown-eyed  Helen  is  the  object  of  my 
ambition  and  the  means  of  my  gratification,  and  if  she 
is  as  fair  and  fickle  as  I  am  fortunate  and  friendly,  the 
issue  is  doubly  undoubted.  Yet,  if  that  graceful  neck 
was  broken,  instead  of  that  grand  head  being  bruised, 
my  victory  over  hex  might  be  the  easier.  But  how  am  I 
to  get  this  body  home.  I  must  keep  up  the  old  decep- 
tion and  continue  to  play  the  loving  friend,  else  I  may 
not  even  get  to  see  the  sweet-faced  inadmorata." 

While  this  somewhat  extended  monologue  was  being 
recited,  "the  loving  friend"  had  examined  carefully  the 
body  and  limbs  of  the  fallen  man. 

"No;  there  are  no  bones  broken  that  I  can  see,"  said 
the  worshiper  of  Nemesis.  "The  hurt  seems  to  be  in 
the  head  and  shoulder.  His  head  met  its  match  for 
hardness  when  it  struck  that  rock,  I  opine,  and  so,  so,  a 
slight  concussion  of  the  brain." 

"By  the  glimmering  light  of  my  natal  star!  I  should 
say  that's  lucky,"  continued  the  soliloquist;  "there  is  a 
wagon  coming  around  the  bend.  Helloo,  helloo,  driver; 
you,  old  man;  lend  us  a  hand  here.  My  friend  has  had 
a  fall  from  his  horse.  I  will  see  that  you  are  well  paid,  if 
you  will  assist  me  to  take  him  home." 

The  driver  of  the  vehicle  came  forward  hurriedly,  anc/. 
at  once  recognized  the  victim  of  the  mishap.  "Fo'  God, 
'tis  Mars  Charles,"  said  the  old  negro,  much  affected,  "and 
I  love  him  as  he  was  my  own  child.  'Twill  brake 
Miss  Helen's  heart  ef  any  sho'  nuff  hurt  come  to  ]\Iars 
Charles,  and  'twould  nigh  kill  ole  Marster;  for  he  is  like 
one  uv  dem  over  dar  at  de  Grove." 

"He  is  my  friend,"  said  the  stranger,  "and  I  will  see 
that  you  are  well  paid  for  your  trouble,  if  you  will  assist 
me  to  get  him  to  the  Grove.  Indeed,  he  is  a  very  dear 
2 


18  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

friend,"  continued  the  stranger;  assuming  a  tone  of  much 
consideration. 

"He  is  your  friend?     Did  you  say,  he  is  your  friend?" 

"Yes;  he  is  a  very  dear  friend,"  rephed  the  stranger. 

"Well,  dat  may  be  so;  but  'tis  more  an'  I  could  say 
dat  he  could  eay  bout  you." 

"I  will  pay  you,  if  you  will  help  me;"  continued  the 
stranger,  pretending  not  to  notice  the  insinuation. 

"You  pay  me  I"  replied  the  old  negro.  "Me  don't 
want  any  uv  your  pay  for  helpin  Mai^  Charles;  nor  for 
lielpin  any  udder  hurt  gentleman,  for  dat  matter." 

"Who  be  you,  any  way — stanin  here  all  dis  time  talkin 
to  yoursefF,  when  you  sees  Mars  Charles  hurt  most  to 
death — callin  yoursefF  his  friend  1    I  bleve  more  dan  I  say." 

And  with  that,  the  old  negro  gave  the  stranger  a  look 
which  could  not  be  mistaken.  There  was  a  suspicion  of 
foul  play.  The  stranger  saw  it;  felt  it,  and  flinched 
beneath  it.  For  so  it  is — "a  guilty  conscience  makes 
cowards  of  us  all." 

AVithout  further  remark,  the  old  negro  betook  himself 
to  the  relief  of  his  wounded  friend,  and  the  stranger  was 
content  to  render  such  aid  as  he  had  assigned  him. 

In  due  time  they  carried  the  wounded  man  to  the 
Grove — the  hospitable  home  of  Beverly  Moore — tiie 
home  of  the  beautiful  Helen,  sweet  Helen  Moore,  the 
loved  and  the  loving. 

Without  one  moment's  warning,  they  carried  him  in 
and  lay  him  on  the  porch. 

Oh)  who  can  tell;  what  pen  describe  the  pain,  the 
sorrow,  the  anguish  which  woman  feels,  when  she  sees  the 
object  of  her  heart's  devotion,  the  idol  of  her  soul's  earthly 
worship,  stretched  before  her,  bleeding,  wounded,  senseless. 

The  deep  agony  of  woman's  heart;  the  blasting  stroke 
thc-t  shatters  woman's  liope;  the  grief  that  crushes  and 
grinds  in  woman's  soul,  is  by  woman  felt,  but  never  can 
be  described. 


CHAPTER  111. 

• 

CHARLES  REED  and  William  Dodge  had  been  students 
at  the  same  college  (dear  old  Hampden  Sidney) ;  they 
had  entered  the  Freshman  class  at  the  beginning  of  the 
session  in  the  fall  of  1855,  and  there  as  classmates,  room- 
mates, and  seemingly  to  all  the  world  the  best,  truest  and 
dearest  of  friends,  they  had  continued  for  four  years,  ris- 
ing from  class  to  class  as  the  years  rolled  by  and  finally 
graduating,  both  with  much  honor,  in  the  summer  of 
1859.  College  life  is  an  epoch  in  a  student's  history,  for 
there  will  be  moulded  much  of  the  character  which  is  to 
shape  his  after  years; 'tis  the  period  when  youth  ripens 
into  manhood ;  'tis  the  period  when  habits  of  thought  are 
formed  and  manner  of  bearing  acquired;  the  period 
when  a  high  sense  of  morality  is  reached,  or  the  ways  of 
vice,  falsehood  and  frivolity  become  familiar.  And  there 
is  no  place  in  all  the  world  where  the  opportunities  for 
intellectual  and  moral  training  aro  so  pleasingly  pre- 
sented and  where  vice  and  falsehood  and  frivolity  are  so  ear- 
nestly combated,  as  at  dear  old  Hampden  Sidney.  Blessed, 
indeed,  is  that  youth  who  is  privileged  to  enter  those  classic 
walls,  and  who  yields  up  his  mind  and  heart  to  the  train- 
ing of  those  loving.  God-fearing  preceptors. 

Charles  Reed  and  William  Dodge  had  enjoyed  equal 
advantages  in  the  way  of  preparatory  instruction ;  they  both 
came  more  than  prepared  to  enter  the  Freshman  class, 
but  they  both  desired  to  become  thorough  scholars,  and 
to  do  this  they  considered  it  best  to  begin  at  the  beginning 
and  master  every  detail  as  they  proceeded.  Intellectually 
the  two  young  men  were  well  matched,  but  their  minds 


20  YAKKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE. 

were  of  a  different  cast ;  Charles  was  deep,  plodding,  logi- 
cal and  full  of  systematic  power,  thoroughly  in  earnest 
and  eminently  practical;  William  Dodge  was  brilliant, 
imaginative,  poetical  and  full  of  quick  resources;  wonder- 
fully talented,  and  most  remarkably  eloquent.  In  the 
lecture  room  Dodge  ever  took  the  lead ;  there  his  acquisi- 
tive faculty  served  him  t3  perfection,  and  his  ready  use  of 
language  enabled  him  to  eclipse  all  rivals.  William  Dodge 
learned  quickly;  Charles  Reed  learned  well,  and  the  ever- 
retentive  memory  of  the  latter  was  a  store-house  of  know- 
ledge. In  the  matter  of  disposition  there  was  some 
variance,  though  a  casual  observer  would  have  been 
puzzled  to  name  the  grounds  upon  which  he  gave  to 
Charles  the  award  of  merit.  Charles  was  open,  candid, 
free  and  affectionate ;  the  soul  of  honor  and  of  unques- 
tionable integrity.  William  Dodge  was  fortune's  favorite, 
full  of  friendships  and  affability.  He  lay  claim  to  but  one 
virtue,  and  that  was  modesty  in  the  matter  of  merit; 
and  if  the  boast  was  affectation,  the  affectation  was  fault- 
lessly acted.  If  there  was  envy,  or  malice,  or  jealousy  in 
his  disposition,  the  guard  that  stood  watch  over  such 
vices  was  never  found  off  duty,  and  so  it  fell  to  his  lot  to 
be  loved  by  those  who  knew  him,  and  courted  and 
caressed  by  all  who  came  near  him. 

The  two  young  men,  or  youths,  perhaps,  more  properly 
speaking,  were  about  the  same  age,  William  Dodge  being 
some  six  or  eight  months  the  older.  We  have  already 
given  something  of  an  account  of  Charles  Reed's  personal 
appearance  in  a  previous  chapter,  at  which  time  he  was 
in  his  twenty-third  yea,T.  Let  that  description  be  sufficient. 
We  are  not  dealing  with  noses  and  eyes  and  lips  and 
cheeks  and  mustaches  as  the  grand  aim  and  object  in 
this  narration,  though  we  will  admit  that  if  such  were 
our  purpose  we  could  name  many  authors  whose  books 
fill  the  circulating  library  as  models  in  the  divine  art  of 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  21 

feature  painting.  We  are  trying  to  give  some  account  of 
the  thoughts,  feelings,  and  sentiments  of  our  characters 
as  they  appeared  to  us  in  the  midst  of  those  trying  scenes 
through  which  they  were  called  to  pass.  William  Dodge 
is  one  of  those  characters,  and  since  the  attentive  reader 
must  come  to  know  him  as  he  Wit*',  that  reader  will  feel 
inclined  to  learn  something  of  his  personal  appearance. 
Bui  to  be  brief  now,  for  a  more  detailed  description  may 
come  later,  let  us  say  that  he  was  tall,  spare,  graceful, 
and  handsome,  with  blue  eyes  and  light  hair.  He  came 
from  the  city,  that  was  evident;  his  dress  and  his  manner 
showed  that  he  had  seen  good  tailors,  and  talked  with 
much  people.  He  gave  Washington  City  as  his  native 
place  and  present  home,  and  that  was  about  all  that  he 
ever  had  to  say  upon  the  subject. 

Charles  Reed  was  the  only  son  of  Dabney  Reed,  and 
Dabney  Reed  was  known  far  and  wide  all  over  the  coun- 
try. The  extending  circle  of  his  fame  had  reached  every 
State  in  the  Union.  His  ancestors  before  him  had  helped 
to  make  Virginia  what  she  was,  and  Dabney  Reed  had 
helped  to  keep  the  grand  old  ship  of  State  afloat  on  the 
high  sea  of  fame.  He  was  wealthy :  he  was  a  brilliant 
lawyer,  finished  orator,  and  lived  in  a  palatial  home  in 
the  Piedmont  country.  His  farm,  as  they  are  called  in 
Virginia,  adjoined  that  of  his  life-long  friend,  Beverly 
Mooro. 

Charles  had  enjoyed  all  the  advantages  which  such 
good  fortune  could  bestow,  and  he  had  not  failed  to  profit 
by  his  surroundings.  Although  much  of  his  time  had 
been  spent  iii  the  chase  and  other  sports  such  as  usually 
accompany  plantation  life,  his  education  had  by  no  means 
been  neglected,  but,  on  the  contrary,  as  we  have  seen,  he 
was  well  advanced  in  his  studies.  There  was  nothing  of 
the  "dash"  about  him — nothing  of  the  "put  on" — 
nothing  that  smacked  of  family  pride  and  "money  makes 


22  YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE. 

the  mare  go."  His  manners  were  easy  and  natural,  per- 
fectly free  from  afifectation,  and  this  was  one  of  the  greatest 
charms  about  him.  He,  like  every  man  and  woman  well 
born  and  well  bred,  appreciated  this  great  advantage  of 
birth,  but  the  thought  occasioned  no  false  pride  within 
his  breast,  nor  touched  his  heart  with  vanity  or  filled  his 
mind  with  arrogance.  He  could  be  courteous  and  polite 
to  the  most  humble  without  the  least  display  of  conde- 
scension. He  never  patronized  the  less  fortunate;  he 
never  acted  for  effect;  he  stooped  to  gain  no  man's 
favor;  he  never  bent  to  do  an  act  of  kindness,  his  chari- 
ties were  the  deeds  of  his  heart.  The  good  works  of  his 
hands  were  the  fresh  waters  that  spring  from  the  foun- 
tains of  noble  humanity  and  whole-souled  generosity; 
his  breast  was  full  of  *'the  milk  of  human  kindness." 
He  would  defend  the  weak  boy  against  *'the  bully,"  assist 
the  little  ones  with  their  task,  and  stay  to  encourage  the 
despondent  in  trying  difficulties.  He  loved  sport;  he 
could  knock  a  ball  and  glory  in  a  "home  run";  he  hated 
to  be  beaten,  but  he  bore  no  malice;  he  could  take  a  joke 
and  enjoy  a  laugh.  Hehadlooked  forward  to  his  college  life 
with  a  longing  desire — a  desire  not  springing  from  rest- 
less impatience  to  leave  home  and  be  out  in  the  world, 
but  a  desire  born  of  a  commendable  ambition;  that 
ambition  which  prompts  the  aspiring  youth  to  do  some- 
thing, be  somebody,  accomplish  some  aim,  and  live  for 
some  purpose.  He  loved  his  home,  he  loved  his  kind, 
indulgent,  affectionate  father;  he  loved  the  servants ;  he 
was  the  pet  of  the  old  ones  and  the  hero  of  the  little 
ones.  He  loved  his  horse  and  his  dog  and  his  gun,  and 
last,  but  by  far  not  the  least,  he  loved  his  associates, 
playmates,  and  companions — loved  them  all  in  general, 
but  one  in  particular,  and  he  knew  it  would  be  hard  to 
go  away  and  leave  all  these  loves  even  for  a  time.  He 
did  not  deceive  himself  in  regard  to  the  pain  the  separa- 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  23 

tion  would  cost  him,  but  he  did  not  allow  the  thought  to 
check  his  ardor  or  cool  his  warm  aspirations.  He  saw 
the  path  of  duty,  recognized  the  path  of  duty  as  the 
royal  road  to  success,  and  thus  filled  his  heart  with  a 
warm  desire  to  be  up  and  out  on  the  broad  highway  to 
fortune  and  to  fame.  The  sacrifice  he  was  about  to  make 
in  leaving  so  many  loves  behind  only  served  to  gild  the 
heights  of  fortune  to  which  his  aspiring  gaze  was  turned 
with  a  brighter  light  and  more  refulgent  gold. 

William  Dodge  had  entered  college,  it  would  have 
seemed,  with  hopes  and  aspirations  somewhat  akin  to  the 
ambition  which  inspired  the  thoughts  of  Charles  Reed. 
It  so  happened  that  the  two  students,  one  traveling  east, 
the  other  west,  met  in  the  little  town  of  Farmville,  and 
took  the  same  stage  for  Hampden  Sidney.  They  were 
the  only  passengers  going  out  that  day,  and  as  the  dis- 
tance is  eight  miles,  they  had  ample  opportunity  and 
abundance  of  leisure  to  cultivate  something  of  an 
acquaintance.  And  as  William  Dodge  was  affable,  intel- 
ligent, and  gentlemanly,  and  Charles  Reed  refined,  sen- 
sible, and  mannerly,  and  both  of  them  total  strangers  at 
college,  they  agreed  to  become  room-mates,  and  thus  their 
association  began.  They  were  among  the  first  arrivals, 
and  as  collegiate  exercises  did  not  begin  for  several  days 
they  had  further  leisure  to  continue  the  cultivation  of 
their  now  growing  intimacy.  Charles  soon  became  much 
attached  to  his  room-mate,  and  William  Dodge,  we 
believe,  at  this  time  entertained  for  his  new-found  friend 
a  very  decided  regard. 

William  Dodge  was  unmistakably  prepossessing  in  his 
appearance,  and  possessed  of  most  pleasing  manners. 
There  was  that  about  him  which  immediately  won,  not 
only  the  good  opinion  of  Charles  Reed,  but  of  the  whole 
school  he  was  very  sociable,  as  we  have  seen,  and  enter- 
tainedhis  companions  with  many  pleasing  stories  and 


24  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

interesting  anecdotes.  He  could  tell  a  good  story,  in  good 
style,  and  it  seemed  to  occasion  him  much  pleasure  to  be 
able  to  afford  pleasing  pastime  to  others.  As  the  months 
rolled  by  and  passed  into  years,  William  Dodge  became 
noted  through  the  whole  college  for  his  brilliant  recita- 
tions. The  professors  were  delighted  with  him,  and  Wil- 
liam was  himself  much  pleased  at  his  success  and  rapid 
progress,  though  he  tried  to  appear  unmindful  of  his 
advantage.  He  was  the  object  of  envy  of  some,  the  won- 
der of  many,  and  the  admiration  of  all.  He  was  looked 
upon  as  a  prodigy,  and,  as  might  be  expected,  courted, 
flattered,  and  caressed.  He  possessed,  beyond  all  doubt, 
a  most  remarkable  mind,  and  seemed  to  master  the  most 
obscure  and  intricate  black-letter  learning  with  intuitive 
power.  To  repeat  what  the  text-book  said  was,  to  him, 
the  easiest  matter  in  the  world.  He  had  moved  at  once 
to  the  head  of  his  class  and  stayed  there,  despite  every 
effort  to  surpass  him.  Many  of  those  who  essayed  the 
vain  endeavor  to  become  his  rivals,  soon  fell  far  behind 
in  hopeless  despair.  Charles  Reed  fain  would  have  kept 
pace  with  the  rapid  strides  of  his  brilliant  friend;  but, 
struggle  as  he  might,  William  Dodge  still  maintained 
the  lead.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  be  eclipsed  at  all  times, 
and  in  all  places,  especially  when  j'ou  feel  that  you  have 
put  forth  your  best  efforts;  and  so  it  was  but  natural  that 
Charles  should  at  times  have  felt  some  irritation  at  him- 
self because  he  could  not  accomplish  all  that  he  desired. 
But  there  was  no  envy  in  his  heart;  he  would  not  have 
cast  even  so  much  as  a  pebble  in  the  path  of  his  friend 
to  make  it  for  him  less  smooth  or  less  easy.  On  the  con- 
trary, had  Dodge  for  one  moment  stumbled,  Charles 
would  have  been  the  first  to  rush  to  his  aid  and  extend 
the  helping  hand.  Charles  knew  that  he  was  doing  his 
work  well;  he  was  conscious  of  the  fact  that  what  he 
acquired  he  had  the  power  to  retain.     This  had  been 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  20 

made  manifest  by  the  examinations  of  the  past  three  ses- 
sions; especially  that  at  the  end  of  his  junior  year,  and 
this  thought  was  the  source  of  consolation,  to  which  he 
turned  when  he  felt  self-twitted,  because  he  had  always 
to  appear  as  the  second  light  in  the  recitation  room,  even 
though  he  struggled  some  times  to  be  the  first. 

He  could  not  fail  to  see  that  he  labored  harder  and 
kept  to  his  books  longer  in  the  preparation  of  his  lessons 
than  his  friend  Dodge,  but  then  Charles  would  say  to 
himself,  when  such  thoughts  piqued  his  pride,  '•  I  think 
I  pay  more  attention  to  the  minutise  and  detail  in  the 
preparation  of  my  lessons  than  he  does;  I  try  to  make 
my  analysis  thorough.  I  believe  in  systematic  study — 
in  the  long  run  it  must  be  the  approved  process.  It  cer- 
tainly is  the  case  in  everything  else,  it  must  be  so  in  the 
art  of  acquiring  knowledge;  at  any  rate,  I'll  stick  to  my 
methodical  ways  and  abide  the  issue  at  the  grand  finale." 

Thus  self-encouraged  Charles  renewed  his  vigor  and 
doubled  his  efforts,  determined  to  "fight  the  battle  to  the 
end  regardless  of  his  place  in  the  rank  and  file."  Charles 
had  been  sitting  all  alone  in  his  room  late  one  Saturday 
afternoon,  meditating  after  the  manner  that  we  have  just 
seen  him;  his  room-mate,  the  quick-minded  AVilliam 
Dodge,  having  quite  an  hour  earlier  completed  the  prep- 
aration of  his  lessons  for  Monday  and  gone  for  a  walk 
along  the  via  sacra.  As  Charles's  thoughts  culminated 
in  the  self-encouragement  above  set  forth,  and  the  words 
"  fight  the  battle  to  the  end  regardless  of  my  place  in  the 
rank  and  file"  passed  through  his  mind,  he  arose  to  his 
feet,  and  flung  a  chip  which  he  had  picked  up  from  the 
hearth  with  force  against  the  floor,  as  though  to  give 
emphasis  to  his  words  and  vent  to  feelings,  and  said 
aloud,  "  No,  I  will  never  give  up ;  I  will  never  strike  my 
colors  until  the  battle  is  fought  through  to  the  end ;  I 
will  never  stoop  to  entertain  the  ghost  of  despair,  for  *  a 
man  is  a  man  if  he  is  no  bigger  than  my  thumb.' " 


26  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

Charles  burst  into  a  laugh  at  the  oratorical  figure  he 
was  cutting,  and  as  he  turned  and  caught  sight  of  his 
auditory,  his  sole  laughing  self,  reflected  from  the  glass, 
he  said,  "  That  Ciceronian  should  have  been  saved  to 
spout  at  Sparks  to-night  in  the  hall.  He  would  have 
considered  that  a  glorious  peroration,  and  that  '  no  bigger 
than  my  thumb '  business  a  homily  of  the  first  water." 
Sparks  was  the  Sophomorical  orator  of  college,  loved  and 
laughed  at  by  all  the  students.  He  delighted  in  high- 
sounding  periods  and  well-turned  sentences,  but  he  could 
not  comprehend  the  mysteries  of  moral  science  and  mixed 
mathematics. 

Just  in  the  midst  of  Charles's  laugh  at  his  own  expense 
and  that  of  the  Sophomorical  Sparks,  there  came  a  rap 
on  his  door.  The  laughing  Charles,  almost  taken  in  the 
act  oS.  appearing  ridiculous,  quick  as  thought,  smoothed 
out  his  countenance  and  brought  his  face  to  what  a  soldier 
would  call  a  ''carry  arms,"  and  assuming  a  dignity 
which  he  did  not  feel,  cried  out,  "Come  in!"  The  door 
opened,  and  who  should  enter  but  the  veritable  Sparks 
himself.  Charles  of  course  "took  the  grins"  (which  in 
college  parlance  means  a  smile  that  is  not  a  smile;  a  kind 
of  a  little  chick  of  a  laugh  that  is  not  a  laugh  at  all — a 
sort  of  spontaneous,  spasmodic,  inexpressible  all-overish- 
ness that  breaks  out  in  spots  and  then  spreads  like  a 
blanket). 

The  good-naturedj  unsuspecting  Sparks  mistook  "the 
grin"  for  a  smile  of  welcome,  and  said,  "Come,  Reed,  dear 
old  fellow„  let's  go  for  a  walk ,  you  will  kill  yourseL  with 
study.  If  you  do  not  practice  moderation  you  T/ill  moulder 
into  musty  meal,  and  become  all  brains  and  no  bones." 

"Too  much  rhetoric,  Sparks;  too  much  rhetoric  to 
waste  on  so  matter  of  fact  an  object  as  your  humble  ser- 
vant. Save  your  flashes  for  a  larger  audience.  You  will 
have  ample  opportunity  to-night  when  we  meet  in  the 
joint  discussion  to  break  my  jioor  bones." 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  27 

"  Well;  get  your  hat  and  let's  take  a  walk.  It  will  do 
us  both  good ;  I  have  been  reading  the  live-long  day  on 
that  all-absorbing  subject  which  we  are  to  discuss  to-night, 
and  I  feel  anythiug  but  satisfied  with  the  result  of  my 
researches.  I  have  the  Missouri  Compromise,  the  Wilmot 
Proviso,  the  Henry  Clay  Omnibus  bill  of  1850,  and  the 
compromise  of  that  year,  so  mixed  up  with  the  repeal  of 
1854,  which  we  are  to  discuss,  I  am  really  afraid  I  shall 
never  get  it  straight." 

"  I  thought  nil  desperandum  est  was  your  motto, 
Sparks?" 

"So  it  is,  Reed;  but  my  time  is  so  short  now  I  can  but 
despair  and  dread  the  issue." 

"  I  thought  you  had  your  speech  alreaay  prepared  ?" 

"So  I  have.  Reed;  but  that  is  what  is  worrying  me. 
I  fear  I  have  the  facts  somewhat  mixed ;  and  after  you 
state  them  as  they  are,  which  I  know  you  will  do,  my 
errors  will  be  too  manifest." 

"Don't  mind  me,  Sparks;  you  will  have  a  rejoinder,  if 
you  wish,  and  if  our  statement  of  the  facts  should  differ, 
the  audience  will  hardly  stay  to  consider  who  is  in  the 
.right." 

"Well,  well;  get  your  hat  and  let's  go  for  a  constitu- 
tional. It  is  too  late  to  make  any  changes  now;  I  will 
have  to  do  as  the  cheeky  lawyer  did  that  I  once  heard 
addressing  the  court.  He  said,  'I  don't  know  much  about 
this  case,  your  Honor,  but  I  arise  upon  the  dignity  of  the 
cause  and  float  upon  the  sublimity  of  the  occasion.'" 

Reed  burst  into  a  good  loud  laugh  at  this  happy  turn 
of  Sparks's  depression,  picked  up  his  hat,  and,  arm  in  arm, 
the  two  young  men  passed  down  the  hall  and  out  upon 
the  campus. 

As  the  friends  approached  the  gate  which  leads  from 
the  college  grounds  into  the  main  road,  and  thence  on  to 
the  via  sacra — the    fashionable   promenade — they  saw 


28  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

William  Dodge  seated  on  a  bench,  with  a  group  of  stu- 
dents around  him.  Reed  and  Sparks  knew,  without 
being  told,  the  meaning  of  that  scene.  Dodge  was  in  his 
glory — he  was  telling  an  anecdote.  As  the  two  friends 
drew  near,  Dodge  looked  up,  gave  a  smile  of  welcome  to 
this  addition  to  his  audience,  and  said: 

"  I  was  telling  a  good  joke  on  a  friend  of  mine  over  in 
Washington.  I  was  at  school  there  in  the  fall  of  '54. 
Our  school-house  wag  situated  out  on  the  suburbs  of  the 
city,  and  as  the  building  in  which  the  school  was  held 
was  Tery  tall  and  rather  contracted  in  size  and  the  school- 
room was  in  the  upper  story,  the  boys  dubbed  the  school 
*The  Martin-Pole  Academy.*  We  organized  a  debating 
club  among  the  scholars,  and  in  order  that  we  might 
appear  yery  grand  and  very  classic,  we  called  the  debating 
society,  *  The  Martin-Pole  Senatorium.'  *  Young  America' 
seems  to  take  very  great  delight  in  posing  as  an  embryo 
statesman  (just  as  we  propose  to  do  ourselves  to-night, 
you  know.  Sparks).  So  it  often  happened,  while  the  Na- 
tional Capitol  was  blazing  with  the  fires  of  Charles  Sum- 
ner's eloquence,  and  resounding  with  the  thunders  of 
Bob  Toombs's  phillipics,  the  rafters  of  the  Martin-Pole 
would  ring  with  our  juvenile  declamations  touching  the 
same  subject-matter. 

"One  night  we  were  discussing  the  question,  'Should 
the  general  government  take  active  steps  to  suppress  the 
Kansas  civil  war  by  having  the  slavery  agitators  arrested?' 
My  friend  (whose  name  was  Brown,  no  doubt  a  son  of  old 
man  Brown,  and  perhaps  near  of  kin  to  John  Brown, 
the  leader  of  the  agitation  party,)  was  chief  speaker  for 
the  afiirmative  of  the  question.  My  friend  Brown  was 
a  very  enthusiastic  ultra  pro-slavery  Whig.  He  was  fire 
and  tow;  all  excitement  and  passion.  That  night  the 
more  he  talked,  the  madder  he  got.  He  went  up  and  up 
and  up  in  circling  flights,  one  after  another,  and  the 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  29 

higher  he  soared,  the  hotter  he  seemed — until  he  looked  as 
though  he  would  burst  with  indignation;  and  then, 
while  in  the  very  midst  of  his  fury,  we  standing,  as  it  were, 
on  tip-toe,  watching  for  the  anti-climax,  he  almost 
screamed  with  passion,  'Yes,  Mr.  President,  yes,  sir,  the 
government  ought  to  arrest  the  vile  agitators — arrest 
them  and  punish  them,  the  last  one  of  them.  Yes,  Mr, 
President,  if  I  were  the  government,  I  would  kill  the  last 
one  of  them;  I  would  put  my  pistol  to  their  breasts  and 
blow  their  brains  out.'  " 

A  perfect  roar  of  laughter  greeted  the  story  of  Brown's 
bull ;  and  hurrah  for  Dodge,  hurrah  for  Brown,  went  ring- 
ing over  the  campus. 

******* 

That  night  the  Union  Hall  was  filled  to  its  utmost 
capacity  with  the  beauty,  refinement  and  intelligence  of 
College  Hill;  all  in  good  humor,  and  all  in  anxious  expec- 
tation, awaiting  to  hear  the  joint  debate  between  repre- 
sentatives of  the  two  literary  societies.  It  had  been  agreed 
that  there  should  be  no  society  rivalry,  so  a  Union  and  a 
"I  hip"  was  pitted  against  a  Union  and  a  "Phip,"  by 
which  arrangement  William  Dodge  and  Charles  Reed 
became  antagonistic  for  the  honors  of  the  evening,  they 
both  being  members  of  the  Union  Society.  The  question 
which  the  committee  on  debate  had  selected  for  the  occa- 
sion was  one  which  had  engaged  the  most  serious  consid- 
eration of  Congress  and  had  there  appeared  as  a  rock 
against  which  the  bitterest  words  of  passion  and  prejudice 
had  dashed  with  frightful  fury ;  the  dome  of  tlie  National 
Capitol  had  rung  with  the  clash  of  angry  vituperation  and 
sectional  warfare,  and  the  structure  of  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment was  shaken  to  its  very  foundations  in  the  discus- 
sion of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill.  And  now  that  bill,  or 
the  effect  of  that  bill,  was  the  target  at  which  "Young 
America  "  proposed  to  shoot. 


80  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

"  Ought  Congress  to  have  Tepealed  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise?" was  the  wording  df  the  question,  and  very  few 
at  that  time,  and  not  one  in  a  thousand  since,  had  stop- 
ped long  enough  to  enquire  as  to  whether  the  phraseology 
of  the  question  correctly  expressed  what  Congress  actu- 
ally did.  So  hot  was  the  fever  of  passion,  so  mad  the 
fury  of  the  flames,  so  intense  the  heat  of  party  spirit,  so 
loud  the  roar  of  angry  debate  and  terrible  the  storm  of 
contention,  none  seemed  to  see  the  breakers  upon  which 
they  were  rushing,  none  seemed  to  regard  the  awful  issue,  • 
none  seemed  to  care  where  the  ship  would  land.  They 
were  out  on  an  angry  ocean,  and  in  their  unhallowed 
frenzy  they  gloried  in  the  storm. 

Mr.  Horace  Greeley,  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  broke 
all  the  vials  of  his  wrath,  and  poured  all  the  bitterness 
of  his  soul  upon  the  consuming  fires  of  incendiarism. 
He  urged  upon  the  people  of  the  North  "  unbending 
determination"  against  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill.  He 
denounced  it  as  an  "  intolerable  outrage,"  and  "  demanded 
in  behalf  of  peace,"  "in behalf  of  freedom,"  "in  behalf 
of  justice  and  humanity,"  resistance  to  the  last.  "  Better," 
he  declared,  "that  confusion  should  ensue,  better  that 
discord  reign  in  the  National  councils,  better  that  Con- 
gress should  break  up  in  wild  disorder;  nay,  better  that 
the  capitol  itself  should  blaze  by  the  torch  of  the  incen- 
diary, or  fall  and  bury  all  its  inmates  beneath  its  crumb- 
ling ruins,  than  that  this  perfidy  and  wrong  should  be 
finally  accomplished." 

As  the  debate  was  to  take  place  in  the  Union  Hall,  the 
Unions  (with  that  courtesy  which  they  knew  so  well  how 
to  extend  and  the  Phips  so  gracefully  to  receive),  placed 
a  member  of  the  Philanthropic  Society  in  the  chair  as 
the  presiding  officer  of  the  evening. 

At  an  early  hour,  the  hall  began  to  be  well  filled,  and 
the  crowd  continued  to  pour  in  until  every  nook  and  cor- 
ner was  occupied,  and  many  gathered  about  the  entrance. 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 


31 


It  was  a  goodly  crowd.  It  may  be  said  that  it  was  more 
than  select.  The  dignified  preceptors  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  were  theie,  together  with  the  students  of  that 
most  venerable  institution.  The  collego  professors  had 
also  joined  the  throng,  and  the  members  of  tho  two  lite- 
rary societies  were  out  en  masse,  and  not  a  few  of  tho  legal 
profession  from  Prince  Edward  Courthouse  and  Farm- 
ville  could  be  seen  conspicuous  among  the  assembly ;  and 
last,  but  not  least,  woman  was  there,  lovely  as  the  morn- 
ing star,  full  of  grace  and  abounding  in  beauty ;  ready 
to  encourage  with  her  approving  smile,  and  fitted  to  shed 
selectest  influence  on  the  occasion.  Man,  the- world  over, 
loves  to  shine  where  beauty  reigns,  and  no  where  in  all 
'the  broad  belt  of  the  circling  sun  does  this  ambition  burn 
with  a  brighter  glow  than  here  in  old  Virginia. 

Charles  Reed  and  William  Dodge  both  felt  the  import- 
ance of  the  occasion,  and  fully  appreciated  the  surround- 
ings. Nor  were  the  other  two  young  men,  who  were  to  take 
a  part  in  the  debate,  wanting  in  similar  feelings.  They  all 
knew  that  they  had  been  specially  singled  out  and  hon- 
ored by  their  fellow-students,  and  that  their  respective 
friends  and  society  members  looked  to  them  to  win  new 
laurels  for  their  personal  crowning,  and  to  add  new  lustre 
to  the  literary  fame  of  the  noble  societies  which  they 
were  there  to  represent. 

Ambition  is  a  strange  passion,  and  it  affects  men  dif- 
ferently ;  and  most  diverse  are  the  paths  into  which  it 
leads,  and  contradictory  its  final  results.  To  some,  it  is 
a  beacon  light,  held  out,  as  it  were,  from  the  windows  of 
heaven  to  lead  them  onward  and  upward  through  the 
paths  of  duty  to  deeds  of  immortal  glory.  To  others,  it 
is  but  as  the  flame  of  burning  brush  kindled  in  the  dark 
night  of  skeptic  thought,  or  amid  the  gathering  shades 
of  ungoverned  passion  and  self-indulgence,  alluring  its 
victims  to  the  fire,  only  to  scorch  their  wings  and  con- 
sume their  souls. 


32  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

Washington's  ambition  struck  llie  chains  of  bondage 
from  the  hand  of  the  British  tyrant,  and  gave  to  the 
world  the  principle  of  self-government  and  constitutional 
liberty. 

Napoleon's  ambition  engulfed  France  in  a  sea  of  human 
blood,  which  rolled  a  red  deluge  over  hills,  valleys  and 
plains  to  float  the  bark  of  a  hopeless  dynasty. 

Luther's  ambition  led  him  to  go  and  stand  his  trial 
before  the  Diet  of  Worms,  that  he  might  dispel  papistic 
darkness  with  the  light  of  the  Christian  Reformation. 

Tom  Paine's  ambition  led  him  to  dim  the  light  and 
glow  of  a  brilliant  genius,  trying  to  persuade  himself  of 
his  own  skepticism  and  defeat  the  immortality  of  his  own 
soul. 

Bob  Ingersoll's  ambition  leads  him  to  go  forth  to  dese- 
crate the  holy  Sabbath  with  his  impious  slang  and  blas- 
phemous wit,  cast  in  the  face  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world, 
trying  to  drown  the  only  hope  that  is  worth  hoping,  and 
to  fill  his  overflowing  coffers  with  filthy  lucre.  Surely, 
surely,  ambition  leads  men  in  diverse  paths:  crowns 
them  with  glory,  or  steeps  them  in  shame. 

Charles  Reed  and  William  Dodge  were  both  ambitious  ; 
both  sought  the  approbation  of  their  fellow-man.  Reed's 
ambition  filled  him  with  a  longing  to  be  something,  do 
something,  achieve  something,  be  true  and  noble  and 
good.     Truth  was  the  rule  and  guide  and  law  of  his  life. 

William  Dodge  was  ambitious;  he  desired  to  shine  as 
a  bright  star — brighter  than  the  brightest  in  the  belt  of 
Orion.  In  the  lustre  of  his  light  lesser  lights  must  pale. 
Success  served  to  tickle  his  vanity,  which  he  had  the  good 
sense  to  conceal;  triumphs  sweetened  his  self-conceit, 
which  he  hid  with  studied  complacency ;  prosperity  prop- 
ped up  his  abundant  pride,  which  he  knew  was  built 
upon  a  sandy  foundation,  and  therefore  protected  it  with 
Uie  cloak  of  seeming  indifference. 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  03 

Promptly  at  eight  o'clock  Chester  Hemphill  stepped 
upon  the  platform  and  rapped  the  meeting  to  order.  The 
secretary  pro  tern,  then  called  the  roll  of  the  two  societies; 
after  which  the  president  arose,  and  in  a  few  words  stated 
the  rules  which  had  been  agreed  upon  for  the  evening, 
and  proceeded  to  select  three  gentlemen  from  the  audience 
to  act  as  judges  of  the  debate.  He  named  three  Semina- 
rians, who  simply  arose  from  their  seats  to  signify  their 
willingness  to  act. 

Mr.  Hemphill  was  from  South  Carolina,  and  possessed 
all  the  grace,  ease,  and  elegance  of  the  Southern  gentle- 
man. His  presiding  was  faultless.  Had  he  been  in  the 
halls  of  the  National  Capitol  he  could  not  have  looked 
more  in  earnest,  nor  appeared  moi-e  dignified. 

The  judges  having  been  appointed,  and  it  having  ap- 
peared from  the  roU-calL  that  all  the  participants  in  the 
debate  were  present,  the  secretary  was  ordered  to  read  the 
question  selected  for  discussion;  whereupon,  he  arose  and 
in  a  clear  distinct  voice  read:  "Ought  Congress  to  have 
repealed  the  Missouri  Compromise?'*  And  continuing, 
said,  "  First  debater  for  the  affirmative,  Mr.  Walker,  of 
North  Carolina." 

Mr.  Walker  was  a  ladies*  man.  "Calico,"  so-called, 
was  indeed  his  heaviest  ticket,  and  most  diligent  w^as  he 
in  the  pursuit  of  it.  The  height  of  his  ambition  was  to 
please  the  fair  ones;  their  approval  was  all  he  desired. 
Little  he  cared  for  the  merits  or  the  morals  of  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise.  To  say  something  pleasing,  pleasant, 
and  complimentary  was  the  mission  on  which  his  soul 
was  bent;  and  the  heart  was  hard  that  resisted  in  toto 
the  gallantry  of  his  manner  and  his  earnestness  in  the 
admiration  of  woman.  On  this  line  he  was  a  pleasing 
speaker,  and  could  say  the  nicest  things  in  the  nicest  way 
imaginable.  He  could  "curl,"  as  the  students  say,  and 
on  this  occasion  he  did  "curl"  to  his  heart's  content.  If 
8 


84  YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE. 

tio  one  was  captivated  by  his  exposition  of  the  Compro- 
mise question,  certainly  no  one  would  attempt  to  repeal 
anything  he  said  about  the  ladies. 

He  said  that  history  showed  conclusively  that  not  a 
single  woman  had  been  consulted  in  regard  to  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise,  nor  allowed  to  have  a  hand  in  it,  and 
this  of  itself  was  prima  facie  evidence  that  it  was  wrong 
ab  initio,  and  ought  to  have  been  repealed.  The  wonder 
to  him  was,  that  a  thing  so  destitute  of  beauty  was 
allowed  to  stand  thirty  minutes,  much  less  thirty  years. 
He  said  the  only  way  he  could  account  for  its  standing 
as  long  as  it  did,  was  because  the  "stickum"  used  was 
"Kentucky  clay"  (meaning  Henry  Clay's  influence). 

The  secretary  announced  Mr.  Sparks,  of  Texas,  as  the 
first  speaker  for  the  negative,  and  Mr.  Sparks  arose  with 
all  the  dignity  of  one  who  felt  the  weight  of  empires  rest- 
ing on  his  shoulders;  but  despite  his  put  on,  it  was  man- 
ifest that  he  was  nervous  and  ill  at  ease.  This  was 
very  unlike  Sparks  generally,  but  what  he  had  said  to 
Charles  Keed  that  afternoon  must  be  the  explanation. 
As  a  speaker,  he  was  of  the  grandiloquent  order,  and 
his  speech  for  the  evening  had  been  prepared  after 
that  style.  Usually,  he  gloried  in  what  he  called 
*' strong  expressions,"  which  consisted  for  the  most 
part  in  stating  a  thing  so  positively  and  emphatically 
that  it  brooked  no  contradiction.  This  style  of  oratory, 
when  the  speaker  is  correct  in  his  statements,  is  most 
effective,  for  the  audience  sympathizes  with  the  earnest 
manner  and  is  influenced  by  the  sincerity  of  the  advo- 
cate; but  when  the  speaker  is  doubtful  as  to  the  facts, 
uncertain  in  regard  to  his  statements,  and  dubious  as  to 
conclusions,  the  emphasis  and  positive  expressions  par- 
take of  the  character  of  bombast  and  fall  flat.  This  very 
uncertainty  had  taken  possession  of  poor  Sparks,  and 
thus  robbed  him  of  his  case  and  discoticerte:'  hi-  mannero 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  86 

He  felt  that  he  had  fallen  into  a  popular  error  in  regard  to 
the  subject-matter  of  debate.  He  was  sure  of  it,  but  it  was 
now  too  late  to  recede ;  yet,  it  was  dangerous  to  go  forward. 
He  had  formed  the  idea  that  the  Missouri  Compromise  v/as 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  plain  agreement  made  and 
entered  into  by  and  between  the  North  and  the  South,  fix- 
ing the  line  of  SG°  30'  north  latitude,  as  a  boundary 
beyond  which  slavery  should  not  pass.  He  thought  the 
simple  history  of  the  compromise  so-called  was  that  in  the 
year  1820,  the  anti-  and  pro-slavery  advocates  were  con- 
tending for  territory,  and  that  in  the  midst  of  the  dispute, 
when  the  two  parties  had  grown  angry  from  discussion, 
Henry  Clay,  the  great  statesman  and  orator,  from  Ken- 
tucky, had  proposed  this  line  of  3G°  30'  north  latitude  as 
a  fair  and  equitable  division  of  the  public  domain,  and 
that  the  disputants  had  received  this  proposition  in  a 
spirit  of  compromise  and  in  good  faith,  had  acted  upon 
the  same,  as  a  full,  fair  and  final  settlement  of  the  ques- 
tion. Mr.  Sparks  further  understood  and  fully  believed 
that  the  question  so  settled  had  been  allowed  to  rest  undis- 
turbed for  upwards  of  thirty  years.  He  thought  it  had 
been  rocked  in  the  cradle  of  sweet  repose,  and  that  its 
slumbers  had  been  full  of  peace,  contentment  and  tran- 
quility until  the  year  1854,  when  it  hud  been  disturbed 
by  the  rude  hand  of  selfishness  and  repealed  by  Southern 
agitators.  With  this  view  of  the  subject,  Mr.  Sparks  had 
prepared  his  speech,  and  it  was  well  filled  with  resonant 
phrases  and  round  sounding  periods  in  which  expressions 
such  as  "  sacred  pledge,"  "  solemn  compact,"  "  plighted 
faith,"  "  broken  engagements"  and  "  repudiated  contracts," 
figured  most  conspicuously.  And  he  was  prepared  with 
ready  appropriate  gesture  and  convincing  emphasis  to 
press  home  his  argument  to  the  heart ;  but  since  writing 
he  had  been  reading — and  (  "  a  change  had  come  over  the 
spirit  of  his  dream/')  and  now  his  (big)  words  did  not 


86  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

seem  to  fill  the  bill  so  fully,  so  he  felt  nervous  and  uneasy. 
As  he  was  from  tlie  South  and  was  to  address  a  Southern 
audience  he  had  been  careful  not  to  use  any  expression 
that  would  prove  offensive,  and  so  after  thinkiugthe  mat- 
ter over,  seeing  that  it  was  too  late  to  re-write  his  speech, 
he  decided  to  do  what  was  best  under  the  circumstances, 
and  that  was,  to  deliver  the  speech  as  it  was  written,  and 
to  say  with  Patrick  Henry,  "  if  that  be  treason,  make  the 
most  of  it." 

]\Ir.  Sparks  possessed  a  fine  voice  and  graceful  delivery, 
and  as  he  proceeded  with  his  argument  his  self-possession 
returned  to  him  ;  and  so,  upoii  the  whole,  he  made  a  good 
impression  and  acquitted  himself  yery  creditably. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  speech  a  recess  of  a  iow 
moments  was  ordered,  during  which  time  the  friends  of 
the  two  young  men  who  had  spoken  tendered  their  con- 
gratulations, and  the  fair  aj^preciative  ones  sent  forward 
cards  and  flowers. 

During  the  intermission,  while  others  were  laughing 
and  chatting  and  commenting,  ^Ir.  Reed  stepped  forward 
from  a  corner  of  the  hall  where  he  had  been  seated  and 
laid  two  or  three  large  leather-bound  books  upon  one  of 
the  tables  near  the  desk  of  tlie  secretary;  as  he  did  this, 
one  of  tho  Seminarians,  s:niiing,  said  to  the  President  of 
the  college,  close  to  wiiom  he  was  sitting,  "  Reed  is  going 
to  lay  doMm  tlie  law  for  us." 

"  If  he  does,"  replierl  the  President,  "  he  will  do  it  right. 
Reed  is  unquestionably  a  very  remarkable  young  man ; 
for  clearness  of  conception  and  accuracy  of  statement  I 
have  never  known  his  superior,  and  I  think  I  would  be 
justified  if  I  said  I  do  not  believe  that  I  have  ever  met 
his  equal." 

"  How  about  Dodge  ?"  asked  the  Seminarian ;  "  I 
thought  he  was  the  Orpheus  of  college  in  the  matter  of 
music  and  oratory." 


YANKEE   BOODLE   DIXIE.  37 

"  So  he  is ;  so  he  is.  Dodge  is  n  prodigy.  He  will  flash 
like  a  meteor,  dazzle  you  with  his  brilliancy,  and  blind 
you  with  his  splendor.  But  Beed  is  a  star  tliat  glows 
with  a  steady  light.  He  will  fill  your  heart  with  admi- 
ration and  your  head  with  wonder.^ 

At  this  moment  the  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the 
rapping  of  the  gavel,  and  the  secretary  was  requested  to 
call  the  next  speaker. 

"Mr.  Reed,  of  Virginia,  second  debater  for  the  affirma- 
tive," responded  the  secretary. 

Mr.  Reed  arose  slowly  from,  his  seat,  advanced  to  the 
table  on  which  lie  had  placed  the  books,  rested  his  right 
hand  carelessly  upon  the  pile  of  books,  and  carried  his 
left  hand  behind  him.  In  this  position  he  stood  for  a 
moment  or  more  waiting,  as  it  were,  that  every  sound  in 
the  hall  might  cease  and  every  attention  be  attentively 
fixed  Tho  expression  of  his  face  was  serious  and  thought- 
ful, and  his  eyes  were  bright  with  intelligence  and  steady 
with  determination.  There  was  no  tremor,  no  excitement, 
no  affectation ;  but  natural  dignity,  calmness,  born  of  self- 
forgetful  ness.  Every  eye  was  fixed  upon  him,  every  ear 
was  listening  for  his  voice,  every  attention  centered  in  his 
presence.  The  pause  was  the  stroke  of  a  master  speaker. 
It  told  the  audience  that  he  was  there  to  address  himself 
to  their  understanding,  and  that  he  desired  their  atten- 
tion. When  the  effect  of  the  pause  was  perfect,  Mr.  Reed 
turned  his  face  full  to  the  platform,  and  looking  straight 
a  t  the  presiding  officer,  said,  in  a  voice  full  of  clearness 
and  musical  enunciation : 

Mr.  President,  truth  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  grand  aim 
and  object  of  every  discussion.  In  the  realms  of  pure 
thought,  on  the  arena,  where  mind  is  made  to  clash 
against  mind,  if  any  other  hope,  any  other  feeling,  any 
other  purpose,  any  other  ambition,  save  the  sole  desire  to 
shed  abroad  the  light  of  truth  and  advance  the  right,  be 


60  YANKEE   DOODLE   DrXIE. 

allowed,  then  and  there  errors  may  be  fostered  and  wrongs 
may  be  done.  We  have  met  here,  in  this  dear  old  hall 
to-night,  to  discuss  a  question,  which  but  now  agitates, 
and  most  deeply  agitates,  our  whole  common  country. 
From  Maine  to  Mexico,  the  angry  waves  of  political  war- 
fare are  deeply  rolling.  From  the  Rocky  mountains  to 
the  great  Atlantic  shore,  the  storm  of  mad  contention  is 
furiously  blowing.  Every  home  lias  reared  a  partisan. 
Every  fireside  has  been  turned  to  a  political  campus. 
On  the  hustings  and  at  the  forum  pleas  have  been  made 
to  passion  and  to  prejudice.  The  pulpit  and  the  bar  have 
become  party  rostrums.  From  the  sacred  desk,  where 
alone  should  be  displayed  the  banner  of  the  Prince  of 
Peace,  the  red  ensign  of  Mars  is  boldly  bantering  with 
the  breeze,  and  this  very  question  which  we  have  met 
here  to  discuss  is  the  occasion  of  it  all.  I  would,  Mr. 
President,  that  I  could  believe  that  truth  and  justice  and 
right  were  the  grand  objects  and  highest  aim  of  all,  or 
even  of  the  greater  part  of  the  thousand  and  one  advo- 
cates, who  are  so  ready  to  speak  to  this  issue,  and  that 
selfishness  and  personal  benefits  played  no  part  in  the 
mad  controversy. 

With  these  facts  before  us,  I  trust  I  will  be  pardoned 
if  in  my  efforts  to  sift  the  grains  of  truth  from  the  heap- 
ing sands  of  error,  I  prove  j^ros}''  and  tedious.  They 
tell  me,  Mr.  President,  that  a  pebble  cast  upon  the 
water  will  start  a  wave  that  will  widen  as  the  circles 
roll  and  never  be  wholly  lost  until  it  breaks  upon  the 
farthest  shores  of  the  sea;  and,  as  in  the  physical  world, 
it  may  be  in  tlie  mental  realms,  that  a  thought  but  lightly 
started  will  run  a  race  to  reach  the  deepest  depths  of 
mortal  time.  Then,  who  can  tell  what  errors  may  be 
started,  and  what  follies  may  flow  from  this,  our  friendly 
discussion,  if  the  participants  to-night  rather  strive  for 
the  laurel  wreath  of  victory  than  for  the  golden  crown  of 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  39 

truth.  The  man  is  indeed  blind  who  stays  to  look  upon 
the  horoscope  of  the  political  planets  newly  risen  above 
the  horizon,  and  fails  to  note  the  threatening  aspect  of 
moral  ideas;  each  party  is  waving  with  all  the  fury  of 
dementing  passion  the  blood-red  ensign  of  Mars,  shouting 
and  screaming  themselves  hoarse — "Do  it,  if  you  dare"; 
"dare  and  you  will  be  damned."  The  man  is  more  than 
deaf,  who  sees  the  pitch-black  clouds  of  sectional  discord 
rolling,  surging,  and  boiling  clear  around  the  circle  of 
the  political  horizon,  and  does  not  hear  the  deep  mutter- 
ings  of  gathering  wrath,  heralding  the  storm  that  is 
about  to  break  forth  with  all  the  fury  of  civil  war.  This 
being  so,  Mr.  President,  it  behooves  us  to  be  careful,  lest 
even  in  our  social  debate  we  speak  some  word  that  will 
prove  as  fuel  to  the  fire  and  thus  agitate  the  passions 
which  we  would  fain  assuage. 

For  my  part,  I  see  no  reasonable  cause,  nor  just  occasion 
for  this  commotion,  and  I  believe  in  my  soul  that  I  could 
offer  a  most  simple  panacea  for  the  dreadful  malady.  'Tis 
one  that  ought  to  be  preached  and  practiced  the  world 
over;  'tis  the  old  golden  rule  paraphrased  to  read,  "Let 
every  man  attend  to  his  own  business,  and  leave  other 
folks'  alone."  A  violation  of  this  rule  was  the  very  foun- 
dation of  what  has  been  styled,  "The  ]\Iissouri  Compro- 
mise." The  return  to  the  ]>rinciples  of  this  rule  is  the 
bed-rock  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill — the  alleged  repeal- 
ing act.  The  doctrine  of  the  Missouri  act  was  to  dictate 
to  people  outside  of  the  Federal  Union  as  to  what  should 
be  their  course  in  a  matter  of  morals.  The  tenets  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill  was,  leave  the  people  of  the  terri- 
tories to  decide  for  themselves  the  question  of  moral  turpi- 
tude. And  while  I  am  speaking  of  this  question  of  morals, 
let  me  say,  ]\Ir.  President,  if  morality  was  the  sole  moving 
principle  in  the  hearts  of  the  advocates  of  the  Missouri 
restriction,  they  v;ere  (guilty  of  the  most  palpable  and 


40  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

unquestionable  inconsistency  that  ever  the  demon  of 
darkness  used  to  hood-wink  the  half- willing  proselytes  to 
his  power,  for,  while  they  proposed  to  play  the  philan- 
thropist and  prohibit  slavery  extension  into  the  then 
unknown  regions  of  the  West  north  of  the  great  parallel 
line  of  86°  30'  north  latitude,  they  knowingly  and  most 
willingly  helped  to  re-rivet  the  chains  of  bondage  upon 
the  limbs  of  the  poor  black  man,  whose  lot  happened  to  be 
cast  by  the  waves  of  fortune  to  the  south  of  that  imagi- 
nary line.  But,  Mr.  President,  no  one  can  be  deceived 
who  will  take  the  time  and  study  the  history  of  that  act. 
No  one  who  will  carefully  read  the  discussion  of  that  ques- 
tion, and  diligently  peruse  the  speeches  made  by  the 
advocates  of  restriction,  cling  to  the  idea  that  morals  was 
the  main  moving  cause  that  animated  the  breast  of  the 
anti-extension  men.  The  object  of  that  act  was  a  division 
of  the  public  territory  between  free  and  slave  labor,  and 
not  a  compromise  of  moral  ideas ;  else, Mr.  President,  this 
so-called  compromise  must  forever  stand  as  a  monument 
to  the  infamy  and  shame  of  the  free-soil  party;  for  who 
will  deny  that  a  compromise  of  conscience  is,  before  man 
and  in  the  sight  of  heaven,  a  moral  degradation. 

Missouri  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  slave  State 
by  that  act  of  compromise.  The  constitution  of  that 
Union  stood  plainly  pledged  to  protect  and  perpetuate 
slavery;  and  if  the  promised  protection  and  pledge  of 
perpetuation  of  slavery  be  not  a  compromise  of  conscience 
in  those  who  believed  slavery  to  be  wrong,  then  the 
livery  of  heaven  was  never  stolen  as  a  vestment  in  which 
Satan  was  to  be  served.  There  is  nothing  new,  Mr.  Pres- 
ident, in  this  view  of  the  subject ;  nothing  new  in  the 
statement  that  the  compromise  was  looked  upon  as  a 
division  of  the  public  domain  ;  nothing  new  in  the  idea 
that  if  not  a  compromise  of  territory  but  a  compromise  of 
morals,  the  act  was  a  disgraceful  tampering  with  good 
conscience;  for  no  less  a  person  than  the  distinguished 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  41 

Mr.  Kinsey,  of  New  Jersey,  in  speaking  to  the  House 
while  the  bill  was  pending,  said :  *'  Do  our  Southern 
brethren  demand  an  equal  division  of  this  wide-spread 
fertile  region — this  common  property,  purchased  with  the 
common  funds  of  the  nation?  No!  They  have  agreed  to 
surrender  to  the  enterjDrising  agriculturist  of  the  North 
nine-tenths  of  the  country  in  question.  And  to  reject  so 
reasonable  a  proposition  we  must  have  strong  and  power- 
ful reasons  to  justify  our  refusal;  and  notwithstanding 
3^ou  plead  your  conscientious  scruples,  be  it  remembered 
you  must  shortly  account  to  that  august  and  stern  tribu- 
nal the  im^^artial  history  and  the  strict  scrutiny  of  pub- 
lic opinion.  Can  you  plead  conscience  in  bar  to  such  a 
compromise?  If  so,  how  reconcile  votes  you  have  on  simi- 
lar questions  already  given?  AVhen  Mississippi  in  the 
last  session  was  received  into  the  Union  your  votes  made 
slavery  interminable. 

"In  persisting  in  our  restrictions  on  Missouri,  are  we 
dealing  to  our  brethren  of  the  South  the  same  measure 
we  would  be  willing  they  should  mete  to  us?  When 
with  magnanimity  unparalleled  they  have  conceded  to 
us  nine-tenths  of  this  great  common  property,  can  we 
wish  to  deprive  them  of  the  remainder?" 

This  extract,  Mr.  President,  from  the  speech  of  a 
Northern  man,  shows  beyond  all  question,  the  light  in 
which  the  subject  was  then  viewed. 

But  let  me  draw  nearer  to  the  subject-matter  of  our 
discussion,  and  give  in  as  few  words  as  possible,  and  in 
terms  as  concise  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit,  the 
history  of  the  several  acts  we  are  considering,  as  I  find 
them  made  up  in  the  records,  and  then,  when  we  have 
been  fully  advised  of  all  the  facts,  we  will  be  much  better 
fitted  to  pronounce  judgment  upon  the  merits  of  the 
question;  and  to  lay  the  fault,  if  there  be  a  fault  at  the 
feet  of  those  who  did  the  wrong. 

In  the  year  1803,  the  United  States  purchased  of  France 
the   large  territory  known  as  the  "Louisiana  cession." 


42  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

One  of  the  articles  of  the  treaty  of  purchase,  expressly- 
stipulated  in  behalf  of  the  inhabitants  then  residing 
within  the  territory,  "that  the  ceded  territory  shall  be 
incorporated  into  the  United  States  as  soon  as  possible,  in 
accordance  with  the  principles  of  the  constitution,  and 
shall  enjoy  all  of  the  privileges,  rights,  and  immunities 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States;  and  in  the  meantime 
they  shall  be  maintained  and  protected  in  the  full  and 
free  enjoyment  of  their  liberty,  propert}^,  and  the  religion 
which  they  profess." 

African  slavery  then  existed  in  the  whole  of  this  terri- 
tory, and  negro  slaves  were  embraced  in  this  treaty  and 
placed  upon  the  same  footing  as  other  propert}^ 

In  pursuance  of  the  stipulation  in  the  treaty,  as  well 
as  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  the  Federal  con- 
stitution, the  people  of  the  territory  of  ]\Iissouri  in  the 
year  1818  made  application  to  be  admitted  into  tlie  Union 
as  a  State.  Missouri,  as  we  all  know,  was  embraced  in 
the  Louisiana  cession.  The  application  for  admission 
M'as  made  in  the  usual  form,  and  the  bill  for  that  purpose 
came  up  before  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  in  the 
winter  of  1819. 

To  that  bill  Mr.  Tallmadge,  of  New  York,  moved  an 
amendment  in  these  words: 

"And  provided  that  the  further  introduction  of  slavery 
or  involuntary  servitude  be  prohibited,  except  for  the 
punishment  of  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  bes'n 
fully  convicted;  and  that  all  children  born  within  the 
said  State  after  the  admission  thereof  into  the  Union, 
shall  be  free  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years," 

This  amendment  presented  three  issues — the  first 
between  the  advocates  and  the  opposers  of  slavery;  the 
second,  the  question  of  the  power  of  the  general  govern- 
ment to  abolish  slavery  in  the  territories,  and  third  the 
question  of  the  power  of  Congress  to  violate  a  treaty. 

The  debates  and  the  votes  show  that  this  was  the  view 
taken  of  the  matter. 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  4$ 

The  bill  with  the  amendment  passed  the  House  and 
went  to  the  Senate,  where  the  restriction  was  stricken  out. 
The  House  adhered  to  the  restriction,  the  Senate  would 
not  recede,  and  so  Missouri  failed  at  that  time  to  be 
admitted. 

At  the  next  session  of  Congress,  the  application  was 
again  renewed  and  a  bill  in  the  usual  form  reported;  to 
this  bill  Mr,  Taylor,  of  New  York,  moved  an  amendment 
similar  to  the  restriction  previously  proposed  by  Mr. 
Tallmadge. 

This  amendment  occasioned  one  of  the  warmest, 
stormiest  and  most  angry  debates  that  had  ever  taken 
place  in  the  halls  of  Congress.  The  constitutional  right 
of  Congress  to  restrict  slavery  within  the  limits  of  a 
State  was  not  claimed — not  even  by  the  most  ultra  aboli- 
tionist; the  power  of  Congress  to  restrict  slavery  in  ter- 
ritory proposed  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State 
was  expressly  denied,  and  in  this  view  of  the  matter 
many  of  the  ablest  and  most  distinguished  statesmen  of 
the  North  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  South,  in 
maintaining  the  doctrine  of  tion-interjerence  by  Congress. 
The  debate  continued  for  some  time.  Several  weeks 
passed  during  the  consideration  of  the  bill.  The  discus- 
sions were  able,  eloquent,  and  interesting;  but  they  were 
full  of  passion  and  hot  breath.  The  bill  could  not  yet 
be  passed. 

On  the  8rd  of  January,  1820,  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives passed  a  bill  to  admit  the  State  of  ]\Iaine  into  the 
Union.  When  this  Maine  bill  came  before  the  Senate  a 
motion  was  made  to  tack  on  to  tlie  bill  for  the  admission 
of  Maine, a  like  bill  for  the  admission  of  Missouri.  To  this 
proposition,  Mr.  Thomas,  of  Illinois,  moved  an  amend- 
ment, which  was  as  follows : 

"And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  in  all  that  territory 
ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States,  under  the  name  of 
Louisiana,  which  lies  north  of  3G°  80'  north  latitude,  ex- 


44  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

cepting  only  such  part  tliereof  as  is  included  within  the 
limits  of  the  State  contemplated  by  this  act,  slavery  and 
involuntary  servitude,  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment 
of  crimes,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  con- 
victed, shall  be,  and  is  hereby,  forever  prohibited." 

This  bill  for  the  admission  of  the  States  of  Maine  and 
Missouri,  with  the  above  amendment  abolishing  slavery 
in  the  whole  of  the  Louisiana  territory  north  of  the  par- 
allel 36°  30'  north  latitude,  passed  the  Senate  on  the 
17th  day  of  February,  1820. 

It  will  be  noted  that  this  bill  placed  no  restriction  on 
the  State  of  Missouri,  but  absolutely  abolished  slavery 
north  of  the  line  36°  30',  notwithstanding  the  terms  of 
the  treaty  which  provided  for  the  protection  of  slave 
property,  the  same  as  other  kinds  of  property. 

When  this  Maine  bill  came  back  to  the  House  with  the 
Senate  amendments  to  admit  Missouri  without  any  restric- 
tion, and  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  territories  as  above 
stated,  the  House  disagreed  to  the  bill  by  a  vote  of  159 
to  18.  The  Senate  sent  a  message  to  the  House  insisting 
on  their  amendment,  but  the  House  insisted  on  their  dis- 
agreement to  the  Thomas  amendment,  and  subsequently, 
on  the  29th  of  February,  1820,  the  House  i:)assed  its  own 
bill  to  admit  Missouri  with  the  Taylor  amendment 
restricting  slavery  within  the  proposed  State. 

This  House  bill  was  then  sent  to  the  Senate  and  while 
pending  there,  a  conference  committee  proposed  tbat  the 
Senate  and  the  House  compromise  the  issue,  and  that  the 
Senate  recede  from  its  amendments  to  the  Maine  bill  and 
the  House  recedefroni  the  Taylor  amendment  of  the  House 
bill,  and  that  both  houses  then  pass  the  House  bill  for  the 
admission  of  Missouri  by  striking  out  the  restriction  clause 
as  to  slavery  in  the  State  and  substituting  the  Thomas 
amendment  abolishing  slavery  in  the  territory.  This 
proposition  was  agreed  to  by  both  Houses  and  this  agree- 
ment, Mr.  President,  was  the  so-called  compromise. 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  46 

But,  Mr.  President,  was  this  a  compromise  between  the 
North  and  the  South?  It  was  not;  indeed  it  was  not, 
and  yet  it  has  been  so  stated  and  repeated  over  and  over 
and  over  again  by  the  people  of  the  North,  until  I  do  believe 
that  ninety  and  nine  out  of  every  hundred  up  there  would 
be  willing  to  swear  to  its  truth. 

The  people  of  the  North  when  they  found  they  could 
not  get  restriction  on  the  State  of  Missouri  by  reason  of 
the  fact  that  enough  Northern  members  stood  with  the 
South,  and  resisted  it  upon  constitutional  grounds,  flopped 
over  and  took  what  they  could  get — restriction  on  the 
territories — for  be  it  known,  and  the  record  stands  to  speak 
the  truth  to  the  world,  that  the  Southern  members  of 
Congress  to  the  number  of  forty-two  opposed  the  bill  as 
it  passed,  because  they  believed  it  to  be  equally  as  uncon- 
stitutional for  Congress  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  terri- 
tories as  it  was  to  restrict  it  in  the  State,  and  the  Northern 
members  voted  for  the  bill  and  passed  it  over  the  protest 
of  the  South. 

But,  Mr.  President,  for  the  sake  of  the  argument, suppose 
we  should  admit  that  this  was  a  compromise  between  the 
North  and  the  South,  would  any  one  then  say  that  the 
terms  of  the  agreement  were  not  to  the  effect  that  the 
territory  lying  north  of  the  line  of  36°  30'  north  lati- 
tude sliould  be  free  soil,  and  that  which  lay  to  the  south 
of  that  line  should  be  slave  territory?  If  that  was  the 
agreement,  if  that  was  the  contract,  if  that  was  the 
com.promise,  so  solemnly  made,  so  sacredly  pledged, 
so  firmly  agreed  to  as  the  scintillations  of  our  friend 
Sparks  would  lead  us  to  imagine,  let  us  see  who  broke  it. 

In  accordance  with  the  act  of  Congress,  Missouri  in 
due  time  adopted  a  constitution,  and  in  December,  1820, 
a  resolution  was  introduced  in  Congress  recognizing 
Missouri  as  a  State  in  the  Union ;  but  strange  to  relate  the 
motion  was  defeated,  and  that  by  the  very  men  who  had 
tried  to  force  restriction  upon  her. 


46  YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE. 

Again,  in  1845,  when  it  was  proposed  to  annex  Texas 
tc  the  Union,  altliough  she  lay  wliolly  to  the  south  of 
8G°  30^  the  restrictionists  bitterly  opposed  the  measure 
and  utterly  repudiated  the  compromise  of  1820,  just  as 
they  had  done  in  1836,  when  Arkansas  was  admitted. 
And  the  State  of  Massachusetts  went  so  far  in  regard  to 
the  admission  of  Texas  as  to  pass  a  resolution  by  the 
legislature  threatening  secession. 

Again,  Mr.  President,  in  1846,  when  Mr.  Polk  asked 
Congress  for  an  appropriation  of  $3,000,000  to  enable  him 
to  negotiate  a  treaty  w^ith  Mexico,  based  upon  the  policy 
of  obtaining  a  cession  of  territory  outside  of  the  limits 
of  Texas,  and  when  a  bill  to  grant  the  appropriation  was 
introduced,  Mr.  David  Wilmot,  of  Pennsylvania,  moved 
his  celebrated '"'proviso"  prohibiting  slavery  in  any  and 
all  newly  acquired  territory,  without  any  regard  to  what 
is  known  as  the  "Missouri  Compromise  Line"  of  36°  30'. 
This  Wilmot  amendment  to  the  appropriation  bill  read: 
"Provided,  that  tlicre  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involun- 
tary servitude  in  any  territory  which  shall  hereafter  be 
acquired  by,  or  be  annexed  to,  the  United  States  other- 
wise than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes  whereof  the  party 
shall  have  been  duly  convicted."  This  bill  for  appro- 
priation with  the  amendment  actually  passed  the  House, 
although  it  was  in  direct  terms  a  repudiation  of  the 
"Missouri  Compromise,"  for  the  larger  portion  of  the 
territory  which  the  United  States  then  proposed  to  treat 
for,  and  did  afterwards  treat  for,  lay  to  the  south  of  the 
so-called  compromise  line. 

When  in  '47  or  '48  a  territorial  government  was  pro- 
posed for  Oregon,  a  Southern  man  proposed  to  settle 
the  whole  question  and  extend  the  line  of  36°  30'  to  the 
Pacific  ocean,  but  the  Northern  members  of  Congress 
bitterly  opposed  the  measure. 

Thus  the  matter  stood  till  1850,  when  California  ap- 
plied for  admission  into  the  Union.  Look  at  the  map, 
Mr.  Presiddit,  and  ycu  will  see  that  the  line  36°  SO' 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  47 

divides  California  in  almost  equal  parts — one-half  being 
north  of  36°  30',  and  the  other  half  south  of  the  line.  At 
the  same  time  that  California  applied  for  admission  a 
territorial  government  was  proposed  for  New  Mexico.  The 
map  will  show  that  almost  the  entire  territory  of  New 
Mexico  lies  to  the  south  of  the  line  of  36°  30'.  California 
had  framed  a  constitution  and  declared  her  determination 
to  abolish  slavery  and  wanted  to  come  into  the  Union  as 
a  free-soil  State.  The  South  was  willing  to  that ;  but  the 
South  wanted  to  give  to  the  people  of  New  Mexico  the 
right  to  say  whether  they  would  or  would  not  have  slav- 
ery exist  within  the  territory,  and  whether  she  should  or 
should  not  be  allowed  to  choose  her  position  and  establish 
or  abolish  slavery  when  she  was  ready  to  be  admitted  as 
a  State.  This  the  people  of  the  North  most  bitterly 
opposed,  and  did  oppose  by  every  means  in  their  power. 
They  utterly  repudiated  the  Missouri  line  of  1820,  But 
after  a  long  and  most  angry  discussion,  the  compromise 
of  1850  was  agreed  to,  which  was,  that  California  should 
be  admitted  as  a  free-soil  State,  and  the  territory  be  allowed 
to  make  its  own  choice.  Enough  Northern  members 
joined  with  the  South  and  carried  the  bill  which  proposed 
these  measures. 

This  brings  us  down  to  the  act  of  1854 — the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill ;  the  act  which  repealed  the  Missouri  act,  if 
the  Missouri  act  was  ever  repealed. 

Now,  Mr,  President,  and  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
indulge  me  for  a  few  moments  and  let  me  recapitulate. 
I  have  stated  the  history  of  the  Missouri  act;  shown  yon, 
that  for  the  most  part,  it  was  opposed  on  constitutional 
grounds — that  is,  upon  the  ground  that  Congress  had  no 
right  to  pass  the  act  and  abolish  slavery  even  in  the  ter- 
ritories, but  I  have  shown  you  also  that  a  few  of  the 
Southern  members  of  the  House,  for  the  sake  of  peace 
and  harmony,  did  consent  to  the  compromise  between 
the  Senate  and  the  House,  because  they  were  willing  to  a 
division  of  the  publi(j  territory. 


48  YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE. 

I  have  shown  you  that  this  Missouri  act  was  more  the 
act  of  the  North  than  of  the  South.  The  North  could 
not  get  all  they  demanded,  because  the  Senate  would  not 
allow  it;  so  they  took  all  they  could  get,  which  was  nine- 
tenths  of  the  public  domain. 

I  have  shown  you  that  if  the  line  established  was 
intended  as  a  division  by  the  North,  that  it  was  utterly 
and  emphatically  repudiated  by  the  North  in  1836,  when 
Arkansas  w^as  admitted ;  that  it  was  again  repudiated  by 
the  restrictionists  in  1845,  when  Texas  was  admitted ;  that 
it  was  again  repudiated  in  1846,  when  the  Wilmot  proviso 
passed  the  House;  that  it  was  agaia  repudiated  in  1848, 
when  the  Oregon  question  was  before  Congress;  that  the 
North  again  repudiated  it  in  1850  in  the  case  of  New 
Mexico.  What  ought  the  North  to  have  asked  or  expected 
in  1854,  when  the  question  again  came  up  as  to  the  con- 
stitutional right  of  Congress  to  abolish  slavery  in  the 
territories? 

Suppose  the  South  had  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  har- 
mony entered  into  the  compromise  of  1820,  what  was  the 
peace  they  were  allowed  to  enjoy?  Who  destroyed  the 
harmony?     Who  agitated  the  question? 

The  South  believed  the  Missouri  act  unconstitutional 
and  many  of  the  ablest  and  most  distinguished  statesmen 
of  the  North  believed  it  unconstitutional,  and  so  when  the 
question  was  again  presented  by  the  bill  to  establish  terri- 
torial governments  for  Kansas  and  Nebraska — the  North 
having  completely  and  emphatically  repudiated  the  so- 
called  compromise — the  South  was  left  but  one  duty  to 
perform,  and  that  could  be  none  other  than  to  vote  in 
accordance  with  what  they  believed  to  be  the  true  con- 
stitutional principle.  And  that  was  to  leave  the  question 
of  slavery  to  be  settled  by  the  people,  within  the  limits  of 
each  State  and  territory. 

Mr.  President,  will  it  astonish  the  world  when  I  tell 
you  that  Daniel  Webster,  of  Massachusetts,  and  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  of  lUinc  Is,  believed  in  the  principle  of  non- 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE,  49 

interference  by  Congress  with  slavery  either  in  the  States 
or  in  the  territories,  and  both  of  them  used  their  mighty 
influence  and  more  tlian  masterly  eloquence  in  behalf  of 
the  principle  of  non-intervention?  The  last  speech  made 
in  the  Senate  on  this  subject  in  the  stormy  session  of  1850 
was  made  by  Mr.  Webster,  and  he  closed  that  most  patrio- 
tic speech  and  grandly  glorious  specimen  of  American 
oratory  with  a  peroration  that  rolled  through  the  capitol 
and  over  the  country,  thrilling  the  hearts  of  the  people  as 
no  speech  ever  had  done  before.  He  said :  "  My  object  is 
peace,  my  purpose  is  reconciliation,  my  desire  is  not  to 
continue  useless  and  irritating  controversies.  I  am  against 
agitators,  North  and  South  ;  I  am  against  local  ideas,  and 
I  am  against  all  narrow  and  sectional  contests.  I  am  an 
American,  and  in  America  I  know  no  locality.  This  is 
my  home,  my  country;  and  my  heart,  my  sentiments, 
my  judgment  demand  of  me  that  I  shall  ever  pursue 
such  a  course  as  shall  promote  the  good  and  the  harmony 
and  the  union  of  the  whole  land.  And  this  I  shall  do, 
God  willing,  to  the  end  of  the  chapter." 

Mr.  President,  will  it  astonish  the  world  when  I  tell 
you  that  Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan  and 
Iowa,  joined  with  the  South,  in  the  Senate  in  1850, 
and  promulgated  the  doctrine  of  no  congressional  inter- 
ference with  slavery,  anywhere  in  the  territories,  and  that 
Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire  were  divided  on  the 
question,  while  Maine  and  the  great  State  of  New  York, 
represented  by  William  H.  Seward,  stood  idly  by  and 
refused  to  vote? 

Then,  who  can  blame  the  South  for  voting  after  this,  in 
1854,  for  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  to  form  territorial 
governments,  although  the  bill  in  substance  said  that, 
"  when  the  said  territories  or  any  portion  of  the  same  shall 
be  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State  or  States,  it  shall  be 
so  received  with  or  without  slavery,  as  the  people  thereof 
may,  by  their  constitution,  declare  to  be  their  wish." 

4 


50  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

The  bill  with  this  provision  passed,  and  because  the 
territory  considered  was  north  of  the  line  of  3G°  30' 
north  latitude,  it  has  been  declared  that  this  act 
repealed  the  Missouri  compromise,  w  hen,  in  fact,  it  did 
no  such  thing.  It  declared  that  the  State  or  States,  which 
might  thereafter  be  formed  out  of  said  territories,  should 
have  the  constitutional  right  to  enter  the  Union  free  from 
congressional  restrictions. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  if  indeed  our  national  government, 
is  a  limited  government,  a  government  with  limited 
powers,  its  powers  are  most  unquestionably  limited 
to  such  as  are  conferred  by  the  constitution,  and  there- 
fore, it  follows  most  logically  and  unequivocally  that 
any  act  not  authorized  by  the  constitution  is  unconstitu- 
tional, and  so  would  be  an  act  without  authority,  and  as 
an  act  without  authority  it  has  no  obligatory  force,  and 
need  not  be  considered.  And  I  think,  I  may  say,  without 
fear  of  contradiction,  that  the  wildest  advocate  of  liberal 
construction  never  dared  to  claim  for  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States  absolute  and  unlimited  power. 

If  then,  Mr.  President,  Congress  should  pass  an  act  not 
authorized  by  the  constitution,  who  would  be  the  proper 
party  to  judge  of  its  unconstitutionality;  to  speak  out 
and  say  that  the  act  was  unauthorized  and  therefore  null 
and  void  ?  I  trust  I  will  not  be  called  upon  to  argue,  much 
less  to  prove,  that  the  Supreme  Courtof  the  United  States 
is,  and  of  right,  ought  to  be  the  final  judge,  and  I  do 
further  trust  tliat  when  the  Supreme  Court  has  thus 
spoken,  that  decision  will  be  held  conclusive,  and  be 
respected  accordingly.  To  set  our  courts  at  naught  and 
bid  them  defiance,  to  disobey  their  mandates  and  contra- 
vene their  judgments,  to  obstruct  their  decrees  and  dispute 
their  authority,  to  ridicule  their  ability  and  impeach  their 
integrity,  is  to  go  back  to  the  days  of  anarchy  and  invite 
bloody  revolution.  Now,  if  this  be  true  (and  let  me  s[iy  if 
there  be  any  who  are  base  enough  to  deny  it,  with  suck 


YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE.  51 

you  need  only  contend  with  the  sword)  we  have  the  ques- 
tion we  are  here  to  discuss  already  decided.  For  recently, 
Mr.  President,  very  recently,  even  since  this  debate  was 
appointed,  our  Supreme  Court — our  Supreme  Court  of  tiie 
United  States — has  rendered  its  decision  in  the  Dred  Scott 
case,  and  I  have  here  before  nie  the  full  and  complete 
record,  and  that  there  may  be  no  misunderstanding,  no 
misquotation,  no  misconstruction,  no  misinterpretation, 
let  me  read  just  exactly  what  was  decided.  I  read  from  19 
Howard,  page  393,  beginning  at  the  fifth  clause.  This 
decision  says: 

"5th.  That  clause  of  the  constitution  which  confers  on 
Congress  the  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  needful 
rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other  pro- 
perty of  the  United  States,  is  confined  to  the  territory 
which  at  that  time  belonged  to,  or  was  claimed  by,  the 
UnitedStates,  and  canhaveno  influenceon  territory  after* 
wards  acquired  from  a  foreign  government. 

"6tli.  The  constitution  gives  no  express  power  to 
acquire  new  territory  to  be  governed  as  colonies  or  terri- 
tories, but  it  confers  a  power  to  admit  new  States  into  tlie 
Union,  and  under  this  power  territory  may  be  acquired 
which  is  intended  to  be  admitted  as  new  States,  and 
which  from  the  necessity  of  the  case  may  be  governed  by 
Congress  until  fitted  to  be  so  admitted. 

"  7th.  But  Congress  holds  this  territory  in  trust  for  the 
benefit  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  is  limited 
in  its  exercise  of  legislative  power  in  such  territory  by  all 
the  restrictions  which  the  constitution  has  imposed  upon 
that  body,  in  regard  to  the  rights  of  persons  and  property 
generally. 

"  8th.  It  follows  that  Congress  cannot  by  any  attempt  at 
legislation  deprive  a  person  of  his  property  in  such  ter- 
ritory without  due  process  of  law  or  without  compensa- 
tion, and  in  this  regard  the  right  of  property  in  slaves  is 
iis  much  protected  by  the  constitution  as  other  property. 


62  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

"  9th.  Therefore  the  act  of  Congress  of  1820  i)rohibiting 
slavery  in  the  territory  ceded  by  France  north  of  36°  30' 
north  latitude  is  unconstitutional  and  void." 

It  would  seem  to  me,  Mr.  President,  after  this  decision 
no  more  ought  to  be  said  ;  the  question  has  been  decided, 
the  matter  ought  to  stand  settled,  the  controversy  ought 
to  cease,  quiet  ought  to  be  restored,  peace  and  harmony 
ought  to  prevail.  There  were  nine  judges  presiding  in 
the  trial  of  that  case.  Seven  of  them  concurred  in  the 
decision  reached.  What  more  conclusive  could  be  asked  ? 
If  the  North  acquiesces  in  this  decision,  then  there  can  be 
no  more  controversy  on  the  vexed  question  of  slavery.  If 
the  North  refuse,  then  may  heaven  protect  our  unhappy 
country. 

I  am  no  advocate  of  slavery,  Mr.  President,  though  I 
fail  to  see  in  it  the  deep  and  terrible  wrong  and  injury 
to  the  black  man,  which  seems  to  distress  the  hearts  and 
distract  the  minds  of  the  would-be  philanthropists  of  the 
North.  Standing  here  in  the  presence  of  a  Southern 
audience,  myself  a  Southern  man,  I  will  place  my  hand 
upon  my  heart,  and  give  expression  to  a  sentiment  that  I 
know  will  find  an  echoing  response  in  the  breast  of  many  of 
the  best  and  bravest  of  the  sons  of  the  South.  I  M-ill  say  that 
I  would  hail  that  day  as  the  most  glorious  in  its  dawning 
that  ever  yet  filled  the  heavens  with  the  light  of  peace  and 
love,  which  should  behold  with  safety  to  the  mingling 
races,  the  black  man  disenthralled  and  regenerated  by  the 
genius  of  universal  emancipation ;  but  this  dream  of 
philanthropy  would  pre-suppose  a  Utopian  empire,  where 
every  prejudice  against  race  and  color  had  been  dethroned 
and  love  and  charity  ruled  the  world  supreme.  That  land 
we  will  never  find,  so  let  us  be  content  to  yield  obedience 
to  the  powers  that  be,  and  as  Christian  men  and  women 
fulfil  to  the  best  of  our  ability  the  mission  which  God  has 
assigned  us,  trusting  in  His  unbounded  mercy  to  judge 
US  according  to  the  lights  by  wliicli  v/e  are  surrounded. 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  53 

Mr.  Reed  resumed  his  seat,  and  for  a  moment  there  was 
a  profound  silence,  and  then  a  deep  and  prolonged 
applau«e  burst  forth  from  every  part  of  the  hall ;  it  rolled 
from  side  to  side  like  a  mighty  wave,  then  died  away  only 
to  be  taken  up  and  repeated  over  and  over  again,  until 
the  President  arose  and  said :  "  The  audience  will  please 
come  to  order."  And  then,  continuing,  added :  "  The 
Secretary  will  call  the  next  debater." 

"  The  next  speaker  for  the  negative,"  responded  the 
Secretary,  "  Mr.  William  Dodge,  of  Washington  City." 

Mr.  Dodge  arose,  but  it  was  apparent  to  Mr.  Dodge  as 
it  was  to  everybody  else,  that  the  audience  felt  but  little 
desire  to  listen  to  any  further  discussion  of  the  question. 
The  most  profound  attention  had  been  paid  Mr.  Reed 
throughout  his  entire  speach,  and  his  best  friends  could 
not  have  wished  him  a  more  complete  victory  than  he  had 
gained.  His  triumph  was  perfect;  Mr.  Dodge  saw  it; 
Mr.  Dodge  more  than  felt  it ;  Mr.  Dodge  under  the  cir- 
cumstances could  but  feel  embarrassed  by  it.  The  audi- 
ence rj.iw  his  embarrassment  and  became  silent  from 
sympathy.  But  sympathy  could  help  him  but  little 
then;  it  could  give  him  no  ideas;  it  could  not  furnish 
him  w4th  language ;  it  could  not  change  facts;  it  could 
not  rewrite  history,  and  there  was  not  a  soul  in  that  large 
audience  that  did  not  believe  that  Charles  Reed  had 
given  a  true  and  correct  account  of  the  history  of  the  acts 
passed  as  they  appeared  of  record,  and  there  was  no  one 
who  better  understood  the  f[ictg,as  they  had  been  clearly 
and  concisely  stated  by  ]\[r.  Reed,  than  he  who  now  arose 
to  reply  to  the  arguments  made.  Under  the  circumstances 
it  might  be  said  Mr.  Dodge  had  made  a  fearful  mistake, 
and  he  fully  appreciated  the  sad  consequences  of  his 
error.  He  was  suffering  from  the  humiliation  of  defeat 
even  before  he  had  put  forth  a  single  effort  in  behalf  of 
the  cause  which  he  had  so  ho])efu]ly  and  confidently 
espoused.     He,  like  his  associate,  Mr.  Sparks,  had  prepared 


64  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

his  speech  upon  the  h3'pothesi3  that  the  Missouri  act  was 
indeed  a  compromise  act,  made  and  entered  into  by  the 
people  of  the  North  on  one  side  and  the  people  of  the 
South  on  the  other,  through  their  duly  accredited  agents, 
the  members  of  Congress;  and  that  the  North  had  in 
good  faith  kept  the  pledge  and  abided  by  the  act,  while 
the  South  had  deliberately  and  wilfully  and  that  without 
provocation  repealed  the  act  and  repudiated  the  compro- 
mise. He  had  heard  something  of  the  Dred  Scott  deci- 
sion, but  he  was  utterly  unaware  that  it  had  declared  the 
very  act  which  they  were  discussing  to  be  unconstitu- 
tional. So  knowing  himself  to  be  possessed  of  a  graceful 
delivery  and  fine  voice,  and  the  powers  of  strong,  forcible, 
ornate  and  eloquent  language,  he  had  confidently  relied 
upon  moving  the  hearts  and  captivating  the  approval  of 
the  audience  by  an  appeal  to  what  he  believed  to  be 
truth,  right,  and  justice.  Henow  felt  that  such  an  appeal 
would  be  inappropriate,  out  of  place,  and  void  of  har- 
mony. 

The  question  of  policy  on  the  part  of  tlie  South  could 
have  been  the  only  ground  on  which  they  could  have 
abstained  from  voting  for  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  and 
wdiether  to  yield  a  constitutional  right  to  simple  policy  is 
ever  to  be  regarded  as  questionable  statesmanship. 

Mr.  Sparks  had  had  his  say  and  was  out  of  danger.  He 
had  enjoyed  a  fair  success  and  approving  applause.  Mr. 
Dodge  was  in  a  painful  dilemma.  What  was  he  to  do  ? 
What  could  he  do  ?  He  was  undecided.  He  had  no  time 
to  think,  and  indecision  is  the  most  dangerous  foe  that 
man  ever  had.  And  so  Mr.  Dodge  rambled  on,  and  ram- 
bled in  the  dark;  rambled  and  got  lost;  rambled  with 
faint  heart;  rambled  with  increasing  fear;  rambled  into 
deep  water  and  foundered ;  rambled  over  difficulties  and 
felll 

The  debate  closed  and  quite  an  ovation  was  given 
Charles  Reed.     His   friends  gathered  around   him    and 


YANKEE   DOODLE  DIXIE. 


66 


beat  his  back  and  shook  his  hands  and  did  other  undig- 
nified acts  as  boys  can  do,  but  all  intended  to  show 
approval  and  appreciation.  Then  the  Professors  of  the 
Seminary  and  College  came  forward,  and  tendered  their 
hearty  congratulations, and  the  ladies  smiled  and  shook 
their  handkerchiefs  at  him-  much  to  his  gratification; 
and  so  the  audience  dispersed.  Charles  was  carried  off 
by  some  of  his  special  friends  to  their  room,  where  a  nice 
little  supper  had  been  prepared,  and  here  the  young 
men  passed  a  most  enjoyable  hour  discussing  the  events 
of  the  evening. 

William  Dodge  had  taken  advantage  of  the  opportunity 
afforded  by  the  notice  which  was  bestowed  upon  Charles 
Reed,  to  slip  away  and  leave  the  hall.  He  went  out  into 
the  moonlight,  and  avoiding  observation  crossed  the 
campus  and  turned  into  and  adow^n  the  main  road. 

For  some  time  he  walked  on  in  silence,  his  head  bent 
down,  his  hands  thrust  into  the  pockets  of  his  coat.  His 
step  was  slow  and  his  manner  and  bearing  was  that  of 
one  weary  and  worried.  He  was  humiliated — deeply 
humiliated.  He  felt  himself  almost  disgraced.  His 
pride  was  painfully  wounded;  his  heart  was  sad  and  sore. 
His  soul  was  suffering  the  pangs  of  defeat — the  first 
defeat  his  ambition  had  ever  received — and  for  that 
reason  all  the  harder  to  bear.  He  had  been  so  used  to 
success  and  triumph;  so  courted,  caressed  and  flattered; 
so  often  ajiproved  and  applauded,  he  had  come  to  think 
of  these  as  his  natural  rights  and  due  possessions,  that 
would  not  and  could  not  be  taken  from  him.  Such  a 
thing  as  defeat  in  that  debate  had  never  occurred  to  him. 
On  the  contrary,  he  had  anticipated  an  easy  triumph. 
He  had  just  the  place  in  the  discussion  which  he  had 
desired — the  closing  argument.  He  had  thought  that 
every  advantage  was  his.  Why  should  he  have  thought 
of  defeat?  He  had  not;  and  so  when  it  had  come — so 
sudden,  so  unexpected,  so  surprising — io  .ame  like  a  fall- 


e6  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

ing  rock,  crushing  and  breaking  and  bruising  his  spirits,' 
and  wounding  his  pride  to  tlie  very  death.  He  walked 
on  in  silence  for  some  distance  until  he  came  to  a  large 
log  near  the  roadside,  and  here  he  took  a  seat.  The  moon 
was  high  in  the  heavens  and  shining  brightly,  and  showed 
him  sitting  there  motionless  as  the  dead  trunk  on  which 
he  was  resting,  his  head  bent  low  between  his  hands. 
For  quite  awhile  he  continued  in  this  j^osition,  still  and 
silent  as  the  inanimate  things  around  him.  Above  him 
the  sky  was  beautiful,  clear  and  bright,  and  full  of  the 
silver  light  of  the  round  full  moon  that  sailed  on  through 
the  deep  ethereal  blue  of  heavenly  loveliness  like  as  a 
magic  ship  in  spiritual  waters,  wafted  away  on  some  glad 
argosy  of  peace  and  joy,  passing  here  and  there  a  fleecy 
cloud,  which  seemed  as  a  bright  island  in  the  silver- 
sheened  ocean  of  the  celestial  realms.  But  he  saw  nothing 
of  this  beauty,  nor  did  he  hear  the  sweet  music  of  the 
heavenly  host  as  the  gleaming  stars  sang  the  high  mass 
of  the  midnight  hour  as  they  joined  hands  in  circling 
around  the  great  white  throne  of  endless  grace.  There 
was  bitterness  in  his  soul — bitterness  such  as  had  never 
been  there  before;  bitterness — bitter  as  the  waters  of 
Marah — with  no  power  at  hand  to  sweeten.  In  his  dis- 
appointment and  humiliation  he  had  given  away  to  his 
wrath ;  and  in  angry  rebellion  against  virtue,  smote  the 
rock  of  pride  with  the  rod  of  selfishness,  and  thus  shut 
himself  out  forever  from  the  land  of  promising  prospects. 
It  were  better  that  that  man  had  never  been  born  who 
yields  up  his  soul  to  become  the  garner-house  of  revenge, 
and  his  heart  to  be  made  the  servile  minion  of  the 
accursed  shades  of  Nemesis.  As  he  sat  there,  heedless  of 
the  beauty  around  him,  and  the  evidences  of  mercy 
above  him,  a  sigh — almost  a  groan — escaped  his  lips. 
He  started,  arose  to  his  feet,  and  the  moon  shining  full 
upon  his  face  revealed  the  contortions  of  overpowering 
passion.  "  It  was  mean — it  was  mean  of  him.  It  was 
mean,  of  Charles  Keed/'  he  exclaimed,  the  words  fairly 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  87 

hissing  between  his  half-clinched  teeth,  "and  on  liim  I'll 
be  avenged,  and  seek  it  'till  I  find  it,  though  I  have  to 
cross  above  the  blasting  flames  of  a  boiling  hell  on  a 
scorched  and  crimpling  hair.  I'll  crush  his  heart  into 
dust;  I'll  steep  his  soul  in  torturing  anguish;  I'll  blast 
his  hopes;  I'll  bend  his  pride;  I'll  destroy  his  ambition, 
and  I'll  blacken  his  name  and  memory.  I  know  the  way. 
I  have  the  power.  I  will  find  the  occasion,  and  I  will  do 
it.  Yes;  by  the  fabled  god  which  he  bends  his  back  to 
worship,  I  will  swear  it  shall  be  done.  Hamilcar  brought 
his  son  to  the  altar  and  made  him  swear  eternal  enmity 
to  Rome ;  and  so  to-night  I  bind  my  soul  with  an  oath 
doubly  deeper  than  the  deepest  pits  of  perdition  to 
wither  the  life  and  light,  and  love  and  peace,  and  hope 
and  happiness  of  Charles  Reed.  Curse  his  slimy  soul; 
curse  his  hateful,  hideous  heart,  and  ten  thousand  thou- 
sand curses  on  his  pie-bald,  pusillanimous  life. 

''I  will  strike  him  heavy  and  hard,  and  I'll  strike  him 
at  every  turn  and  crossing ;  but  I  will  not  stop  there. 
I'll  strike  that  dough-faced  darling  of  his — his  so-called 
sweet  Helen  Moore.  And  he  will  feel  that,  though  he 
were  made  of  bars  of  brass  and  braced  with  the  stoutest 
steel.  Hal  ha!  that  will  be  revenge  worthy  the  queen 
of  all  the  gods — the  insatiable  Nemesis  I 

"  But  stay.  I  must  have  a  plan,  else  folly  will  foil  me 
in  my  high  emprise.  And  if  I  know  the  tricks  of  the 
trade,  I  take  it  that  no  foe  is  so  apt  of  his  chance  to 
strike  the  death-blow  as  the  friendly  foe.  So  let  me 
flatten  out  these  frowns.  'Let  grim-visaged  war  smooth 
his  wrinkled  front.'  Then  truthfully  I  can  say  that 
Shakespeare  knew  what  Shakespeare  writ  when  he 
preached  that  'One  can  smile  and  smile  and  be  a  villain,' 
Let  me  teach  Byron  how  to  put  it,  and  say: 

'  One  glorious  hour  of  sweet  revenge 
Is  worth  an  age  without  a  name.'  " 

After  these  most  pious,  Christian-like  and  charitable 
meditations,  Mr.  Dodge  turned  his  face  towards  the  college 


58  'YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE. 

and  started  to  retrace  his  steps.  As  he  walked  along  his 
tlioughts  continued  to  revolve  themselves  around  the  all- 
absorbing  subject  of  his  meditated  revenge.  And,  again 
speaking  half  aloud  to  himself,  he  said :  "  Twill  never  do  to 
let  any  one  know  that  I  feel  chagrined  at  my  defeat.  No,  no, 
that  would  spoil  my  plan.  I  must  wear  a  mask  ;  I  must 
play  the  don't  care,  and  coquet  with  hypocrisy,  I'll 
not  go  iback  to  my  room  to-night ;  I'll  go  to  the  hotel 
and  lodge  there,  and  to-morrow  I  will  wait  until  after 
services  have  begun  and  then  I'll  walk  the  aisle  clear  up  to 
the  amen-corner,  and  my  voice  shall  be  the  clearest  and 
fullest  that  helps  to  swell  the  music  of  the  choir." 

When  Charles  Reed  and  his  friends  had  concluded  the 
dainty  repast,  which  had  been  prepared  expressly  as  a  com- 
plimentary surprise  for  Charles  by  his  special  friends,  the 
company  arose  to  separate  for  the  night.  As  they  did  so, 
Charles  took  up  a  plate  and  began  to  fill  it  with  tbe  most 
choice  fruits  and  sweet-meats  that  were  to  be  had;  all 
knew  for  whom  it  was  intended,  but  there  was  not  a  sin- 
gle comment  made.  Not  a  word  was  said  of  him  of  whom 
they  all  were  thinking ;  not  a  soul  there  but  liked  and 
admired  William  Dodge  too  much  to  feel  any  but 
regret  at  his  failure.  So  the  boys  chatted  on  upon  other 
subjects,  and  as  they  did  so  Chester  Hemphill,  who  was  one 
of  the  party,  quietly  took  the  plate  from  Charles's  hand  and 
continued  to  load  it  with  good  things  until  its  safe  car- 
riage became  difficult.  He  then  handed  it  back  to 
Charles,  who  bowed  low  and  half  singing,  said,  as  he  left 
the  room :  "  We  will  meet  you  by  the  brigrht-light — by 
the  bright-light  in  the  morning  !  " 

When  Charles  reached  his  room  he  was  a  little  sur- 
prised not  to  find  William  Dodge  there,  but  he  concluded 
that  Dodge  had  gone  off  with  some  of  the  boys  and  was 
perhaps  then  amusing  them  with  some  of  his  good  stories 
of  which  his  store  seemed  inexhaustible.  So  he  placed 
the  plate  on  the  table,  and  as  he  felt  tired  lay  down  ou 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  59 

the  bed  without  undressing,  with. a  view  not  to  go  to  sleep, 
but  to  await  the  coming  of  his  friend.  But  nature  has 
iier  demands  as  well  as  friendship  ;  and  so  "  Sleep,  sweet 
balmy  sleep  1 "  crept  in  unawares  and  gently  closed  the 
eyes  of  the  weary  watcher.  And  so  gently  did  he  sleep 
and  so  light  and  peaceful  was  his  slumbering,  he  did  not 
awake,  until  the  brazen  tongue  of  the  old  big  bell  on  the 
campus  was  sounding  the  six  o'clock  moining  call. 

As  nught  be  expected,  this  debate  gave  Charles  Reed 
quite  a  reputation  on  College  Hill  as  a  speaker,  and  added 
greatly  to  the  golden  opinions  which  he  had  previously 
won  as  a  profound  thinker.  So  his  friends  met  and 
determined  at  once  to  put  him  forward  as  a  candidate  for 
the  debater's  medal  of  the  Union  Society.  To  this  move 
Charles  earnestly  protested;  not  because  of  any  undue 
or  light  appreciation  of  the  honor  proposed,  or  unwil- 
ling to  submit  himself  to  the  chances  of  defeat;  but 
because  his  friend  and  room-mate,  William  Dodge,  had 
from  the  very  beginning  of  their  college  term  been  con- 
sidered the  especial  aspirant  for  that  honor,  as  well  as 
for  the  honor  of  being  the  first  graduate  of  his  class. 
And  Charles  Reed  had  no  desire  to  be  the  rival  of  his 
friend.  Besides,  Charles  had  on  more  than  one  occasion 
madeuseof  such  languageas  would  justify  William  Dodge 
in  thinking  that  Charles  stood  pledged  to  his  support; 
so  when  the  matter  was  mentioned  and  his  name  spoken 
of  in  connection  with  the  medal  he  felt  in  honor  bound 
to  refuse  to  become  a  candid-ate.  This  he  did  in  express 
terms,  but  thinking  that  some  mention  of  the  circum- 
stance might  be  made  to  William  Dodge,  who  possibly 
might  not  understand,  he  immediately  sought  out  Wil- 
liam Dodge,  fully  determined  to  tell  him  the  whole  story, 
and  not  only  to  declare  his  fixed  resolve  not  to  be  a  can- 
didate, but  to  openly  avow  his  determination  to  support 
his  friend's  claims. 

Nearly  a  week  had  passed  since  the  debate,  and  the 
two  young  men  had  been  much  together.     Dodge  seemed 


60 


YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 


to  be  as  bright  and  cheerful  as  ever,  and  no  less  friendly; 
but  not  once  had  he  alluded  to  the  debate,  and  under  the 
circumstances,  Charles  felt  that  it  would  be  indelicate  for 
any  one  else  to  do  so  in  his  presence,  so  no  mention  of  the 
matter  had  been  made. 

It  was  late  one  afternoon  when  the  matter  of  the  medal 
was  first  mentioned  to  Charles — something  between  dusk 
and  dark.  "  No,  boys,  no  !"  Charles  liad  said,  when  the 
subject  was  mentioned  by  three  or  four  of  the  Unions, 
who  had  come  to  his  room  as  a  sort  of  nominating  com- 
mitteje,  representing  quite  a  large  number  of  the  members 
of  the  society.  "  I  cannot  consent  to  that,  it  would  not 
be  friendly,  indeed  it  would  hardly  be  honorable,"  and 
rising  from  his  seat,  and  speaking  with  deep  feeling, said: 
"  You  all  know  how  much  I  love  my  friends,  and  how  warm 
and  sincere  is  my  appreciation  of  their  regard  for  me,  and 
how  truly  grateful  I  am  to  you  for  this  evidence  of  your 
favorable  opinion,  but  I  cannot  consent  to  this  proposition ; 
I  do  not  tliink  it  would  be  right,  and  while  I  do  not  mean 
to  be  tragical,  I  will  say,  I  had  rather  be  right  than  to  be 
the  medalist.  So  take  back  to  my  other  friends  my  love 
and  gratitude,  my  sincere  thanks,  and  proud  apprecia- 
tion of  their  kmdness,  and  tell  them  it  will  be  one  of  the 
happiest  days  of  my  life  on  which  I  may  be  able  to  serve 
them,  or  any  of  them,  but  in  this  matter  they  must 
excuse  me." 

Not  another  word  was  said.  One  after  the  other  they 
pressed  Charles's  hand,  and  with  full  hearts  left  the  room. 
When  they  were  gone  Charles  stood  for  a  few  moments 
looking  at  the  now  closed  door.  He  then  turned  and 
leaned  his  head  heavily  against  the  mantel,  and  ever  and 
anon  his  handkerchief  went  up  to  his  face  to  brush  away 
the  silent  tears  that  trickled  down  his  cheek. 

Blame  him  not,  gentle  reader.  Do  not  call  it  a  weak- 
ness. Do  not  say  that  tears  0-1  Iv  belong  to  woman.  God 
made  the  human  heart,  yours  and  mine.     He  made  the 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE,  61 

fountains  of  love  and  filled  them  with  the  pure  waters  of 
affection;  and  tears  of  love,  tears  of  affection,  and  tears 
of  gratitude,  like  tears  of  repentance  and  tears  of  contri- 
tion, are  the  crystal  dew-drops  of  heaven-born  emotions, 
given  to  mortals  to  share  with  the  angels  by  grace  divine. 

Thus  Charles  stood  long  in  silence.  No  sound  escaped 
him ;  but  his  lips  moved,  methinks  it  was  in  prayer — a 
prayer  for  strength  to  do  the  right — a  prayer  for  strength 
to  resist  the  wrong — a  prayer  for  gratitude  for  God's 
mercy — a  prayer  for  hope  and  high  reward. 

A  few  moments  later  William  Dodge  was  found  sitting 
alone  in  the  library  reading  the  story  of  "Amy  Robsarts's 
Wrongs,"  as  told  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  in  Kenilworth.  As 
Charles  stopped  and  rested  his  hand  on  the  table  by 
which  Dodge  was  sitting,  the  latter  closed  the  book  over 
his  right  hand  and  looked  up  into  Charles's  face,  and, 
seeing  that  Charles  was  looking  earnestly  at  the  book, 
said:  "Ambition!  ambition!  ambition!"  And  then,  as 
he  saw  that  Charles  was  about  to  make  some  comment- 
ing reply,  stopped  him,  and  said :  "  But  I  see  from  the 
expression  of  your  face  you  have  an  object  in  seeking  me. 
What  is  it?" 

This  rather  terse  but  business-like  inquiry,  with  its 
preface,  somewhat  dampened  Charles's  feelings,  and  for 
one  moment  he  paused  and  looked  at  his  friend,  but  he 
saw  nothing  in  his  expression  to  indicate  incivility,  and 
the  tone  of  voice  in  which  the  question  was  put,  showed 
no  annoyance;  only  business — strict  business — that,  and 
nothing  more.  But  even  this,  under  all  the  circum- 
stances, was  well  calculated  to  grate  harshly  upon  the 
feelings  of  Charles  Reed.  He  had  come  with  his  heart 
full  of  love,  and  his  soul  free  from  every  selfish  desire,  to 
speak  the  words  of  true  friendship  and  manly  regard. 
He  had  been  received,  he  hardly  knew  how,  in  a  manner 
he  did  not  understand,  but  he  would  not  let  this  turn  him 
away  from  his  purpose. 


62  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

lie  took  a  seat,  uninvited,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
table,  and  picked  up  a  paper-knife,  and  as  he  talked 
drew,  marked,  and  made  letters  on  the  plush  table-cover. 
He  told  Dodge  of  the  young  men's  visit  to  his  room,  of 
their  purpose,  their  proposition,  their  urgent  entreaty; 
and  then  he  told  of  his  positive  refusal  and  his  fixed 
determination;  and  ended  by  stating  his  reasons  and 
declaring  his  intentions  to  vote  in  the  manner  he  had 
often  indicated. 

Mr.  Dodge  was  silent  during  the  entire  time  that 
Charles  was  talking,  and  even  when  Charles  once  or  twice 
paused  as  though  he  had  made  an  end  of  speaking. 
Dodge  failed  to  offer  any  remark,  but  sat  perfectly  quiet, 
looking  hard  at  the  lamp-shade,  occasionally  closing 
tight  his  right  eye  and  twisting  the  corner  of  his  mouth 
up  towards  his  ear,  as  though  he  meant  to  say,  "This 
will  help  me  to  comprehend  the  profundity  of  your 
remarks."  And  finally  when  Cliarles  quit  talking  alto- 
gether, for  the  absolute  want  of  anything  more  to  say, 
Dodge  moved  a  little — -just  a  little  to  one  side — so  as  to 
examine  the  lamp-shade  more  closely,  and  speaking  very 
slowly,  said : 

"And  so  you  never  heard  of  this  move  until  to-day?" 

The  sentence  was  decidedly  emphasized  to  mean  some- 
thing, and  the  emphasis  fell  on  the  words  "  you "  and 
"  to-day."     Charles  noticed  this  and  replied  quickly : 

"  Never  ;  no,  never,  until  this  hour." 

To  which  Mr.  Dodge  replied  even  more  slowly  than  he 
had  yet  spoken : 

"  Well — now — that — is — strange,"  subjecting  the  last 
words  to  great  ductility. 

Charles  Reed  could  not  fail  to  observe  the  doubt  and 
incredulity  expressed  in  the  last  remark.  It  was  an 
implied  impeachment  of  his  veracity — a  thing  that  had 
never  happened  to  him  before  in  all  his  life.  He  felt  the 
hot   blood   surging  to  his  cheeks,  but   he   thought  for 


YANKEE   DOODLE  DIXIE.  63 

friendship's  sake,  "  I  will  keep  silent,"  and  then,  after  a 
moment,  he  simply  said,  "  Yet  it  is  true." 

The  two  young  men  continued  seated  for  a  half  minute 
or  more  without  further  speech.  And  then  Dodge  arose, 
walked  to  the  book-case,  and  placed  the  book  he  held  in 
his  hand  on  the  shelf,  and  then  coming  back  to  the  table 
stood  with  his  hands  behind  him  under  his  coat-skirt, 
and  assuming  a  most  cheerful  and  pleasant  tone  said: 

"  Not  for  the  world.  Reed,  not  for  the  world  would  I 
have  you  forego  the  great  pleasure  in  prospect  on  my 
account.  If  you  think  the  fruit  is  within  such  easy 
grasp*  by  all  means  stretch  forth  your  hand  and  take  it. 
But  if  you  will  allow  me  the  privilege  to  offer  a  piece  of 
friendly  advice  I  would  tell  you  that  if  I  were  in  your 
place,  because  I  possessed  a  good  memory,  and  had  a 
good  delivery,  and  could  recite  a  good  speech  in  good 
style,  and  liad  a  good  father,  good  enough  to  write  one 
speech  for  mc,  2  would  not  relinquish  a  gold  medal  that 
I  might  hereafter  win  on  my  own  merit." 

"What  do  you  mean,  Dodge?     Surely" 

"  Oh,  nothing — nothing — nothing.  If  Reed  can't  read, 
then  who  can?" 

"  My  father  never  saw  that  speech,  nor  any  other  living 
Goul  to  this  day ;  no,  not  so  much  as  one  word  or  line  of 
the  manuscript.  Let  the  future  prove  who  is  its  real 
uthor." 

And  more  angry  he  had  not  been  for  many  a  long  day, 
Charles  Reed  arose,  and  without  another  word  left  the 
room. 

As  Charles  closed  the  door  behind  him  Dodge  burst 
into  a  good  round  laugh,  and  said:  "  I  call  that  the  first 
blood  drawn  in  ilie  sweet  cause  of  the  fair  Nemesis " ; 
and  then,  continuing,  said:  "  He  win  the  medal  from  me  I 
I  will  show  him  that  because  he  happened  to  get  hold  of 
the  facts  and  I  made  a  mistake  that  is  no  reason  why  he 
should  be  so  elated.  I  know  he  will  run  for  the  medal 
now,  and  I  will  shake  him  like  a  dog  with  a  rat. 


64  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

"  That  timely  insinuation  as  to  the  authorship  of  his 
speech  will  prove  a  rail  for  him  to  ride,  and  if  I  am  any 
judge  it  will  rack  him  sore.  He  will  not  dare  allude  to 
the  matter  among  the  students,  for  that  would  give  wind 
to  an  ugly  story ;  and  yet,  if  he  did,  it  would  ruin  nie, 
for  there  is  not  a  soul  on  this  hill  that  would  believe  it. 
But  I  must  be  careful ;  I  must  not  go  too  far ;  I  must  not 
forget  my  plan.  I  will  be  in  the  best  of  humors  when 
we  meet  again." 

Just  as  William  Dodge  had  expected,  Charles  deter- 
mined to  take  more  interest  in  the  society  debates,  and 
William  Dodge  soon  had  good  reason  to  feel  that  it  would 
have  been  better  had  ho  acted  differently,  for  as  the  weeks 
rolled  by  and  society  nights  came,  Charles  would  come 
to  the  hall  well  prepared  for  the  discussion,  and  more 
than  once  he  made  Dodge  feel  that  here,  at  least,  he  had 
his  match  if  not  his  master. 

The  students  were  quick  to  note  the  rivalry  and  watch 
it  with  much  interest  and  no  little  enjoyment ;  and  after 
a  time  one  of  the  same  party  that  had  called  on  Charles 
at  his  room  in  regard  to  the  medal  ventured  to  mention 
the  matter  again.  Charles  heard  him  through  to  the 
end,  and  then  said,  "  I  told  you  that  I  could  not  be  a 
candidate  for  the  medal  when  you  and  my  other  friends 
so  kindly  called  on  me  some  time  ago,  but  since  then  I 
have  changed  my  mind.  I  need  not  state  my  reason 
why;  that  is  not  necessary.  All  who  know  me  will 
believe  that  I  was  sincere  in  what  I  then  said,  and  will, 
I  hope,  be  satisfied  when  I  say  that  I  feel  justified  by  sub- 
sequent circumstances  in  this  change  of  purpose.  So  you 
may  speak  for  me,  and  say  if  my  friends  still  think  favor- 
ably of  my  claims  for  the  honor  they  have  my  consent  to 
be  guided  by  their  own  views  and  wishes  in  the  matter." 

William  Dodge  was  unquestionably  a  fine  speaker;  he 
was  fluent  and  easy  and  graceful,  and  could  be  witty  or 
humorous  or  pathetic  as  he  felt  disposed :  but  as  a  debater 


YAJS'KEE    DOODLE    DIXIE,  65 

he  was  not  the  equal  of  Charles  Reed.  He  did  not  pos- 
sess that  earnestness  of  manner,  that  deep  feeling  and 
pathos,  that  high  and  lofty  appreciation  of  things  grand 
and  glorious,  which  makes  oratory  sublime.  Dodge  was 
the  bright,  sparkling,  rippling  stream  flashing  in  thesun- 
light  and  dancing  amid  the  moonbeams,  pleasing  the 
imagination  and  fascinating  the  heart, 

Charles  Reed  was  the  river  when  the  floods  come  and 
tears  up  opposition  by  the  roots  and  bears  it  to  the  ocean 
upon  the  rushing  waters  of  intense  feeling.  He  stated 
his  facts  concisely;  lie  placed  them  orderly, and  drew  his 
conclusions  logically.  He  could  be  as  the  grand  tilt  ham- 
mer of  the  steam  forge,  so  gentle  and  easy  in  manner  as 
would  scarcely  crush  an  egg-shell,  and  then,  when  occa- 
sion demanded,  come  down  with  power  and.  force  that  no 
oiDposition  could  withstand. 

The  debate  of  which  we  have  given  an  account  took 
place  in  the  early  part  of  the  senior  session  of  the  two 
young  men.  They  were  to  graduate  in  the  following 
summer.  William  Dodge  had  continued  to  keep  the  lead 
in  the  recitation-room,  but  in  the  semi-annual  examina- 
tions the  thorough  systematic  work  of  Reed  had  been 
telling,  and  especially  was  this  the  case  at  the  close  of  the 
junior  year,  tip  to  that  time  it  had  been  confidently  pre- 
dicted by  all,  students  and  professors,  that  Dodge  would 
bear  off  the  honor  of  first  graduate;  but  now  there  seems 
to  be  some  doubt  about  the  matter,  for  the  steady-mea- 
sured strides  of  Charles  seemed  to  be  bearing  him  nearer 
and  nearer  to  the  front.  Bat  so  confident  was  Dodge  of 
final  triumph  he  did  not  seem  to  realize  that  defeat  was 
among  the  things  possible,  either  for  the  medal  or  the 
first  honor. 

Dodge  had  never  made   any  direct  apology  for  the 

offensive  insinuation  made  in  regard  to  the  authorship  of 

the  speech  on  the  Missouri  Compromise  question,  but  had 

conducted  hiniself  in  a  manner  so  friendly,  so  familiarly, 

6 


66  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

SO  kindly,  Charles  felt  that  an  apology  was  expressed  "by 
his  manner  as  fully  as  it  could  be  made  in  words,  and  so 
his  heart  turned  back  to  his  friend  as  tenderly  as  in 
days  gone  by.  And  thus  matters  stood  as  the  day  for  the 
election  of  medalist  drew  nigh.  No  one  could  tell  posi- 
tively how  that  election  would  go,  for  while  quite  a  num- 
ber had  expressed  their  intentions,  yet  there  were  suffi- 
cient left  who  had  maintained  perfect  silence,  and  these 
held  the  balance  of  power.  So  as  the  day  for  the  election 
drew  nearer  and  nearer  the  interest  and  excitement  in  the 
matter  became  intensified.  But  as  the  larger  part  of 
those  members  who  had  given  no  intimation  as  to  how 
their  vote  would  be  cast  were  club-mates  of  Mr.  Dodge, 
and,  therefore,  on  intimate  terras  with  him,  that  gentle- 
man felt  perfectly  satisfied  in  mind  and  confident  of 
victory,  and,  consequently,  was  all  cheerfulness  and  affii- 
bility.  But  hope  is  sometimes  deceptive,  and  the  bright- 
est promise  will  occasionally  take  us  up  very  high  only 
to  let  us  down  very  liard — and  so  William  Dodge  found 
it;  for  when  the  night  of  the  election  came,  and  the  roll 
had  been  called,  and  the  ballot  taken,  and  the  vote 
counted,  the  result  showed  that  Charles  E,eed  won  the 
election  by  a  plurality  of  five. 

Disappointment  goes  hard  with  some  people.  It  went 
hard  with  William  Dodge.  It  struck  him  full  in  the  face 
and  fairly  knocked  him  down.  He  was  astonished;  he 
was  literally  astounded.  His  first  impulse  was  to  arise 
and  denounce  the  election  a  wilful  fraud,  and  he  even 
went  so  far  as  to  attempt  to  get  upon  his  feet  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  no  doubt  would  have  done  so,  much  to  his  own 
shame  and  total  disgrace  in  college,  had  not  one  of  his 
club-mates,  who  happened  to  be  sitting  by  him,  noted 
the  expression  of  his  face,  and  thereby  anticipating  his 
purpose  pulled  him  back. 

What  he  would  have  said  had  he  been  allowed  to  go 
on  is  beyond  conjecture;  and  go  on  he  certainly  would 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE  67 

have  done  had  anger  been  the  only  result  of  his  crush- 
ing disappointment;  but,  fortunately  for  him,  it  was  not; 
the  blow  Vas  so  unexpected  it  struck  the  very  life  out  of 
him.  It  seemed  to  stop  the  pulsations  of  his  heart,  and 
to  make  him  limp  and  limber  as  a  wet  towel.  A  hot 
faint-like  feeling  rushed  over  him  and  the  lights  seemed 
to  tremble  and  darken,  before  his  eyes.  When  the  ballot 
was  announced,  Charles  Keed  arose,  and  in  a  few  feeling 
but  appropriate  words  thanked  the  society  in  general  and 
his  friends  in  particular  for  the  distinguished  honor  that 
had  been  conferred  upon  him;  and  then  in  the  most  deli- 
cate manner  complimented  the  opposition  by  saying  that 
the  only  thought  that  marred  the  happiness  of  the  hour 
and  made  it  less  than  supreme  was  the  conviction  that 
one  more  worthy  had  been  passed  by  and  disregarded. 
When  Reed  resumed  his  seat,  which  he  did  amid  pro- 
longed applause,  Dodge  again  made  a  feeble  effort  to  get 
upon  his  feet,  but  he  was  again  motioned  back  by  his 
friend  and  club-mate  alluded  to,  who  immediately  took 
the  floor,  and,  addressing  the  chair,  said :  "  Mr.  President, 
the  principle  of  this  society  is  the  principle,  vox  populi, 
vox  del.  The  popular  voice  has  spoken  and  the  voice  we 
hear  is  to  us  a  voice  divine.  The  oracles  this  night  have 
been  consulted,  and  the  answer  is,  that  Charles  Reed,  of 
Virginia,  is  not  the  medalist  of  a  party  or  a  faction,  but 
the  medalist  of  the  Union  Society,  and  as  such  I  name 
him,  greet  him,  and  will  ever  honor  him.  And  as  the 
years  roll  by  and  our  spirits  shall  from  time  to  time 
revisit  this  dear  old  hall  to  drink  anew  a  deep  libation  to 
the  divinity  of  letters  we  will  weave  a  bright  garland  of 
the  roses  of  love,  and  crown  the  cup  of  Charles  Reed  as 
we  breath  our  grand  old  motto,  me  socium  summis  adjungere 
rebus" 

This  speech  was  greeted  with  almost  wild  applause,  as 
being  in  good  taste  and  feeling,  and  elegantly  appropri= 
ate.     Amid  the  uproar  and  confusion,  the  President  de- 


68  YA>-KEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

clared  the  society  adjourned,  and  as  he  did  so,  all  restraint 
having  been  broken,  the  hall  was  made  to  ring  -with 
•'  Hurrahs  for  Reed ! "  which  went  sounding  down  the 
stair-way  and  out  upon  the  campus  and  there  caught  up 
by  the  Phips  and  repeated  until  the  whole  of  College  Hill 
seemed  to  shake  with  the  shout  of  congratulation. 

Dodge  had  by  this  time  somewhat  recovered  himself. 
His  physical  weakness  had  in  a  measure  passed  away, 
and  his  anger  was  about  to  get  the  better  of  his  chagrin ; 
but  his  club-mate  again  came  to  his  rescue,  and,  feeling  a 
contempt  which  he  threw  into  his  voice,  said,  "Dodge, 
don't  make  yourself  such  a  stinking  fool." 

This  not  very  elegant  but  rather  emphatic  remark 
completely  subdued  Dodge  for  the  time,  so  with  what 
good  grace  he  could  command  he  joined  the  crowd  and 
walked  away  to  the  old  chapel  where  quite  a  sumptuous 
repast  had  been  prepared  for  the  occasion.  He  had  a 
fine  voice  and  could  sing  a  pathetic  sentimental  song, 
or  word  a  comic  air,  as  circumstance  seemed  appropriate ; 
and  no  sooner  did  the  proper  moment  for  toasts  and 
songs  arrive  than  he  was  loudly  called  for  to  sing.  He 
had  said  but  very  little  during  the  repast,  and  there  was 
a  kind  of  intuitive  feeling  which  seemed  to  pervade  the 
atmosphere,  indicating  that  Dodge  felt  rather  too  keenly 
his  defeat  and  was  taking  it  most  too  hard  to  be  manly. 
So  the  students  with  that  charitable  intuition  and  quick 
responsive  sympathy,  which  prompts  a  boy  to  run  for  the 
salve  to  apply  to  a  new  sore,  were  now  doing  all  they 
could  to  bring  Dodge  into  notice  and  relieve  his  embar- 
rassment. He  had  the  good  sense  to  see  the  object  and 
pride  enough  left  to  profit  by  the  opportunity  offered,  so 
he  responded  to  the  call  and  sang.  The  toast  which  pre- 
ceded the  call  for  the  song  was  — 

"  To  the  Ladies:  Ever  fair,  ever  faithful,  ever  firm  to 
maintain  the  right  and  resi.-?t  the  wrong." 

This  toast  liad  been  res[>onded  to  by  our  friend  "Walker 
in  his  most  felicitous  style.     The  whole  party  was  in 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  69 

splendid  spirits  and  high  glee,  and  Dodge,  having  hud 
ample  time  to  think,  had  determined  upon  two  things — 
the  first  was  to  stick  to  his  plan  and  be  cheerful  and 
friendly;  the  other  was  to  abide  his  time,  and  take  a 
revenge  deeper  and  darker  than  death.  So  when  he  was 
called  upon  to  sing  he  affected  no  false  modesty,  but  arose, 
and,  with  a  smile  on  his  face  indicative  of  perfect  good 
humor  and  self-possession,  said:  "As  the  ladies  have  been 
lauded  not  beyond  their  worth,  but  beyond  all  power  of 
expression  by  any  person  present  except  the  silver-tongued 
gentleman  from  the  far  sunny  South,  I  trust  it  will  not 
be.  inappropriate  if  I  sing  of  the  merry  young  girls  who 
emerge  from  the  school-room  at  the  end  of  the  lane  in  the 
afternoons  and  flit  down  the  via  sacra  like  water-nymphs, 
making  that  delightfal  promenade  seem  almost  a  walk  to 
Paradise.  And  if  it  should  seem  to  any  that  I  sing  the 
song  with  too  much  feeling,  I  trust  they  will  forgive  the 
weakness,  when  I  confess  that  the  words  and  tlie  music  are 
my  own  composition,  put  forth  in  a  feeble  effort  to  make 
a  record  of  one  chapter  in  my  own  uneventful  life." 

He  then  cleared  his  throat  after  the  manner  of  one  v\dio 
pretends  as  though  he  was  going  to  sing  something  grand, 
but  at  the  same  time  smiling  pleasantly  as  a  sort  of  con- 
tradiction to  the  throat-clearing,  began  the  song  in  a 
melo-dramatic  or  operatic  style,  if  the  critics  will  allow 
the  expression,  highly  appreciated  by  the  audience. 

THE  SONG. 

"those  merry  LAUGHINa  GIRLS." 

"  Oh  !  those  merrj''  laughing  girls, 

Merry  iu  bright  beaut3''s  glee, 
How  they  shal^e  those  golden  curls, 

'Tis  a  trap  they've  set  for  me  ! 
Oh  5  those  merry,  merry  girls, 

Laughing,  joyful  as  they  flee, 
Oh  !  those  naughty,  naughty  girls, 

They  have  set  a'trap  for  me  1" 


70  YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE. 

"  Oh  !  my  heart  'tis  entangled 

In  those  tresses  touched  with  gold. 
Oh  !  the  sharpness  of  that  arrow, 

Now,  I  feel  it  in  my  soul  I 
Oh  !  those  sweet,  bewitching  girls, 

Sweet  as  only  girls  can  be  ; 
Oh  !  those  naughty,  saucy  girls, 

They  have  set  a  trap  for  me  ! " 

"  Oh  !  those  lips,  ripe  as  cherries, 

Ripe  for  coquetry  and  for  kisses  ; 
Oh  !  those  maidens  mischief-making— 

Mischief-making,  mocking  misses. 
Oh  !  those  modest,  blushing  girls, 

Sweet  in  blushing  modesty  ; 
Oh !  those  naughty,  saucy  girls. 

They  have  set  a  trap  for  me  ! " 

"  Oh  !  those  mischief-making  girls, 

Laughing,  smiling  as  they  flee. 
Now  they're  coy — now  they're  kissing, 

Now  they're  looking  back  at  me. 
Oh !  those  saucy,  kissing  girls, 

How  could  they  so  cruel  be  ; 
See  my  heart  all  entangled 

In  tiie  trap  they've  set  for  me  I " 

The  song  was  greeted  with  yociferous  applause,  pro- 
voked in  part  by  the  inimitable  style  in  which  it  was 
sung,  mingling  the  sentimental  and  the  humorous  with 
good  effect,  and  partly  prompted  by  the  strong  desire 
which  the  students  felt  to  alleviate  any  soreness  which 
Dodge  might  feel  in  regard  to  the  late  election.  There 
was  no  special  merit  in  the  words,  but  indeed  very  great 
merit  in  the  singing.  And  no  sooner  had  applause  begun 
to  subside  than  Mr.  Sparks,  who  also  possessed  some 
musical  talent,  caught  up  the  air  and  began  again  to  sing 
the  last  stanza,  in  which  he  was  soon  joined  by  the  whole 
company  with  such  full  voice  that  the  old  chapel  fairly 
trembled  with  the  words — 

"  Oh  !  those  eancy,  kissing  girls. 
How  could  they  so  cruel  be  ! 
Oh  I  those  naughty,  saucy  girls, 
They  have  set  a  trap  for  me  1 " 

As  the  chorus  ended  all  eyes  were  turned  to  the  foot  of 
the  table,  from  where  was  heard — "They  have  set  a  trap 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  71 

for  me,"  squeaked  by  Tom  Price,  the  dry  wit  of  college, 
whose  diminiitive  figuve  and  ludicrously  homely  face, 
made  more  ludicrous  by  the  sour  taste  which  the  words 
seemed  to  have  for  him — making  the  whole  thing  ridicu- 
lous iu  the  extreme. 

The  squeaking  echo  was  greeted  with  roars  of  laughter, 
amid  which  Price  balled  himself  up  in  a  hard  knot  and 
rolled  under  the  table. 

As  the  laughter  over  Price's  echo  subsided.  Walker  seized 
a  glass  of  pump-water  (the  social  beverage  of  sober-sided 
Ilampden-Sidney),  and  mounting  a  chair  exclaimed: 

"A  health  to  the  naughty,  saucy  girls:  May  they  cap- 
ture, at  will,  the  last  mother's  son  of  you  lingering  lag- 
gards in  the  light  of  love;  and  may  they  lash  you  to  the 
car  of  woman's  devotion,  and  there  all  the  days  of  your 
life  make  you  bear  the  palanquin  of  conjugal  felicity,  much 
to  their  peace  and  hapjtiness  and  your  improvement!" 

Again  the  chapel  rang  with  applause  and  cries  of 
"Hear!  hear!"  and  "Hurrah  for  Walker!"  'Hurrah 
for  the  naughty,  saucy  girls!"  The  boys  were  having  a 
good  time,  and  fun  was  flowing  fast,  when,  to  the  great, 
surprise  of  all,  up  from  beneath  the  table  arose  Tom 
Price,  bearing  on  his  head  a  small  box  with  a  red  hand- 
kerchief thrown  over  it,  and  in  the  box  seated  a  big  rag- 
baby,  while  he,  in  his  ventriloquizing  squeak,  cried:  "I 
am  got  the  palanquin  of  conjugal  felicity!  I  am  got  the 
palanquin!  I  am  got  the  felicity!"  And  as  he  went 
hobbling  around  the  room  beneath  the  weight  of  his 
"conjugal  felicity,"  the  fun  was  furious  and  fast.  The 
whole  company  arose  to  their  feet  and  cheered  and 
cheered  and  cheered  until  the  din  and  noise  and  scream 
seemed  like  a  "rebel  yell,"  amid  which  the  feast  ended 
and  the  company  dispersed — some  still  cheering  and  hal- 
looing, while  here  and  there  over  the  campus  could  be 
heard  snatches  of  the  song — 

"  Oh !  those  naughty,  saucy  girls, 
They  have  set  a  trap  for  ine  !" 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SOME  months  had  passed  since  the  events  alluded  to 
in  the  last  chapter  had  taken  place,  and  the  time 
known  in  college-life  as  the  senior  vacation  was  nigh  at 
hand.  Senior  vacation  is  the  last  two  weeks  of  thesession, 
immediately  previous  to  commencement-day,  and  so 
called  because  the  graduates  are  expected  to  complete 
their  final  examination  before  the  beginning  of  the 
so-called  senior  vacation,  and  to  spend  two  weeks  in 
social  enjoyment  and  the  preparation  of  speeches,  such  as 
they  may  be  called  upon  to  make,  while  their  examina- 
tion papers  are  being  overlooked  by  the  Professors.  And 
that  the  reader  may  -understand  certain  incidents  which 
will  be  hereafter  related,  it  w41I  be  necessary  that  he  be 
made  acquainted  with  the  fact  that  it  is  one  of  the  rules 
of  Hampden-Sidney,  that  any  student  who  may  wish  to 
contest  for  the  honor  of  first  graduate  must  complete  all 
of  his  examinadons  and  pass  up  his  papers  before  the  be- 
ginning of  this  senior  vacation,  else  it  makes  no  difference 
how  perfect  his  examination  may  prove  he  cannot  be 
the  recipient  of  the  first  honor. 

After  the  election  of  medalist,  William  Dodge  and 
Charles  Peed  had  both  doubled  their  exertions,  as  it  were, 
and  applied  themselves  with  far  more  industry  to  their 
studies  than  at  any  former  period  of  their  college  life. 
But  the  motives  which  prompted  the  two- young  men  to 
subject  themselves  to  this  severe  application  were  very  dif- 
ferent. Charles  Peed  was  moved  by  the  laudable  ambi- 
tion to  learn  all  that  he  could  learn  in  the  time  still  left 
him  and  to  become  as  thorough  a  scholar  as  circumstances 
would  admit;  and  if  at  any  time  there  was  a  thought  of 
pride  for  the  scholarly  position  to  which  he  had  attained, 
(72) 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 


73 


it  was  not  for  himself  he  yielded  to  the  indulgence,  but 
because  of  the  pleasure  he  knew  his  success  would  afford 
his  father,  and  that  other  friend  dearer  to  his  heart  than 
life  itself.  In  her  eyes  it  was  not  preferment,  or  honor,  or 
distinction  that  he  was  after,  it  was  worth;  it  was  to 
prove  himself  worthy  of  that  crowning  glory  in  man's 
life,  woman's  love  ;  that  royal  jewel,  that  princely  diadem, 
which  possessed  brings  to  the  peasant  the  wealth  of  em- 
pires— denied  to  the  king,  leaves  him  more  destitute  than 
the  children  of  poverty.  No  man  ever  was  or  ever  will 
be  happy  without  woman's  love.  In  money  and  means 
and  the  luxuries  which  these  will  bring  him — in  litera- 
ture and  learning  and  the  high  position  which  tliese  will 
secure  for  him — in.  culture  and  talent  and  the  fame 
which  these  may  provide  for  him — he  may  find  gratifica- 
tion and  contentment;  but  without  love  in  his  soul  to 
be  given,  and  love  in  his  life  to  be  received,  and  mingled 
in  the  sweet  measure  of  that  dualized  unit  ordained  of 
heaven  inthemerciful  decree  "  ye  twain  shall  beone,"  there 
is  no  happiness.  Thehuman  heart,  like  the  trailing  vine, 
can  never  lift  itself  into  the  bright  light  of  peaceful  per- 
fection unless  its  green  tendrils  can  find  something  to 
cling  to  and  to  clasp. 

'Tis  God's  decree  that  it  should  be  so.  Love  is  the  end 
and  aim  of  the  perfect  life ;  who  loves  not  here  on  earth 
will  never  live  to  love  in  heaven. 

How  different  the  motive  that  urged  "William  Dodge 
on  to  industrious  study,  and  made  him  a  slave  to  burning 
desire.  The  sole  object  and  aim  which  now  filled  his 
heart  was  to  humble  and  to  humiliate  Charles  Reed.  So 
intense  had  become  his  hatred — so  deep  his  purpose  of 
revenge — so  consuming  the  fires  of  passion,  all  other 
incentives  were  burned  up  and  consumed  in  this  one  fever 
of  malignant  desire.  And  so  artful  had  he  become — so 
skillful  in  deception — so  trained  in  his  deceitful  wiles,  that 
Charles  Reed  did  not  so  much  as  suspect  his  purpose. 


74  YANKEE    POOriLE    PTXTE. 

Day  after  day,  week  after  week,  and  month  after  month., 
the  two  young  men  had  roomed  together,  sle})t  together, 
studied  together,  and  mingled  together  in  social  inter- 
course without  the  escape  of  so  much  as  one  unguarded 
word  to  give  a  warning. 

Keed  was  all  kindness  and  affection — such  was  his 
nature.  He  even  at  times  felt  some  degree  of  regret  in 
the  matter  of  the  medal,  but  of  this  he  never  spoke. 
Dodge  was  all  cheerfulness  and  affability.  This  may 
have  been  nature,  too,  for  it  is  said  that  Satan  laughs 
when  a  soul  is  lost. 

Dodge  did  not  doubt  his  ability  to  win  the  first  honor, 
for  be  still  maintained  his  lead  in  the  class-room;  but  he 
did  not  now  grossly  underrate  Reed's  ability — experience 
had  taught  him  a  lesson.  He  could  see  that  his  room- 
mate was  putting  in  good  work,  and  was  making  rapid 
strides  in  the  right  direction.  Still,  hope  is  delusive,  and 
we  often  hug  the  phantom  after  the  substance  has  slipped 
from  our  arms. 

Dodge  never  had  a  doubt  in  his  own  mind  as  to  what 
were  the  hopes  and  aims  of  Reed.  He  thought  that 
Reed  was  unduly  elated  because  of  his  election  as  med- 
alist, an  election  which  Dodge  thought,  or  tried  to  think, 
was  due  in  some  mysterious  way  to  partiality,  if  not  to 
direct  pecuniary  persuasions.  One  of  the  peculiarities  of 
ignoble  minds  is  to  judge  others  by  their  own  standard. 
The  suspicious  mind  has  the  source  of  suspicion  from 
within.  It  is  subjective,  not  objective,  conscious  of  moral 
weakness.  They  take  it  that  moral  weakness  belongs 
alike  to  all,  and  reasoning  from  this  stand-point  arrive  at 
the  conclusion  that  virtue  is  nothing  but  affectation,  or  at 
best  the  result  of  favorable  or  fortuitous  surroundings. 
That  man  or  woman  who  openly  declares  himself  or  her- 
self a  skeptic  as  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  human 
virtue,  and  assumes  the  authority  of  a  jury  to  convict  and 
a  judge  to  pass  sentence  in  the  matter  of  morals,  against 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE. 


all  purity  as  a  cardinal  principle,  draws  from  his  own 
corrupted  heart  the  evidence  upon  which  the  decree  is 
pronounced.  You  cannot  expect  clean  water  to  flow 
from  a  filthy  fountain,  nor  can  you  look  for  pure 
thoughts  to  crystalize  in  a  cesspool  of  moral  corruption. 
"William  Dodge,  in  the  deep  disappointment  of  his  heart, 
had  allowed  passion  and  prejudice  to  take  possession  of 
his  goul,  and  over  the  mental  vision  of  his  brilliant  intel- 
lect spread  the  disfiguring  veil  of  skepticism.  And  now 
he  saw  nothing  clearly.  To  him,  Reed's  friendship  was 
falsehood,  Keed's  smile  hypocrisy,  Reed's  affection  dis- 
simulation, and  Reed's  love  a  lie.  And  strange  and 
paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  William  Dodge  justified  his 
own  conduct  by  quoting  "you  must  fight  the  devil  with 
fire,"  and  thus  persuaded  himself  that  he  was  actually 
practicing  a  virtue  by  his  dissimulation  in  order  to  pun- 
ish the  pride  and  defeat  the  aims  of  false  ambition.  So 
contradictory  are  the  ways  of  wickedness,  so  varied  its 
humors,  and  changeable  its  moods,  what  pleases  it  to-day 
to-morrow  it  will  hate,  because  self-love  is  the  foundation 
of  every  evil  thought,  and  when  the  humor  fails  of  its 
gratification  and  the  mood  miscarries  of  its  object,  pas- 
sion steps  in  provoked  by  contradiction. 

William  Dodge  knew  that  he  was  practicing  deception, 
and  judging  Charles  Reed  according  to  the  measure  of 
concentrated  self-love,  he  was  fully  persuaded  that  Charles 
was  attempting  the  same  game;  and  strange  again  as  it 
may  seem,  while  Dodge,  though  he  saw  through  Charles 
Reed  as  through  a  tissue  veil,  he  prided  himself  on  the 
subtlety  of  his  own  concealment.  And  now  that  his  line 
of  action  was  clearly  marked  out,  and  the  path  to  pursue 
fully  determined  upon,  his  task  became  an  easy  one.  He 
felt  no  disgust  at  his  conduct — no  dissatisfaction  with 
himself — no  misgiving  as  to  the  right  or  the  wrong  of 
his  action.  He  was  pleasing  himself.  He  was  following 
the  lead  of  his  own  inclination  and  yielding  to  the  grati= 


76  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

fication  of  his  own  desires.  What  more  did  he  wish? 
What  real  wrong  was  he  doing?  What  law  was  he  vio- 
lating? He  had  the  right  to  beat  Reed  if  he  could. 
Nay,  that  was  a  duty,  and  it  was  no  less  a  duty  to  take 
the  starch  of  arrogance  out  of  self-conceit,  and  so  he 
said,  "  I  will  do  it.  I  will  teach  him  a  lesson.  I  will 
pull  down  his  F.  F.  V-ism.  Bah  I  I  hate  that  expression 
*  F.  F.  V.' ; '  in  a  horn ' — First  Families  of  Virginia  I  Better 
mean  False,  Foolish  and  Vain.  Pride  of  birth!  The 
poorest  pride  in  the  world,  and  yet  it  borrows  the  most 
airs.  Why  should  the  accident  of  birth  make  him  any 
better  than  I  am?  It  strikes  me  that  we  both  came  into 
this  world  without  so  much  as  *  by  your  leave,  sir,'  and  I 
opine  we  M'ill  go  as  we  came,  bringing  nothing  and  taking 
as  little  away.  If  I  have  a  feeling  in  regard  to  the  *  acci- 
dent,' by  which  I  slipped  into  the  world,  so  inopportunely 
for  the  fair  name  of  my  winsome  mother,  it  is  curiosity 
to  know  who  might  be  the  gay  Lothario  that  enjoyed  the 
privilege  of  sharing  with  my  sometimes  father  the  attrac- 
tions of  a  comfortable  bed.  I  confess  the  fault.  The 
curiosity  is  rather  annoying,  and  the  j)uzzle  is  rather  puz- 
zling, when  I  explain,  I  am  my  father's  son,  but  tar 
and  blazes,  who  is  the  father  of  me  his  son?  My 
mother's  husband  should  have  been  the  father  of  my 
mother's  son,  but  if  my  mother's  son  brings  no  resem- 
bling evidence  to  prove  my  father's  claim,  non-suited 
might  my  father  be.  Well,  "well,  let  it  pass,  but  some 
day  I  mean  to  know  more  of  tlie  tragic  death  of  my 
mother's  husband.  And  that  there  was  a  tragedy,  I  do 
know,  and  yet  I  know  not  how  I  know.  My  mother 
might  explain,  but  she  will  not,  and  that  ends  the  matter 
again,  at  least  for  the  present."  With  such  thoughts 
revolving  through  the  mind  of  William  Dodge,  sometimes 
pricking  his  pride,  sometimes  hardening  his  heart,  the 
days  rolled  by  and  final  examinations  came. 

Charles  Heed  had  stuck  to  his  theory  of  thorough  prepa- 
ration, and  it  was  about  to  bring  its  merited  reward,  for, 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 


77 


as  one  after  another  the  examinations  were  passed,  he 
found  that  his  memory  did  not  fail  him  in  regard  to  the 
subject-matter  of  the  studies  in  the  Freshman,  Sophomore 
and  Junior  classes,  and  it  now  became  apparent  to  all 
students  and  professors,  that  a  general  average  would 
give  the  first  honor  to  Charles  Reed. 

It  was  late  one  Saturday  afternoon,  before  the  beginning 
of  the  senior  vacation,  which  commenced  on  the  following 
Tuesday.  Both  AVilliam  Dodge  and  Charles  Reed  had 
completed  all  of  their  respective  examinations,  except 
"  senior  math."  Reed  and  Dodge  were  sitting  alone  in 
their  room,  Dodge  deeply  absorbed  in  a  problem  in  dif- 
ferential calculus ;  Reed  quietly  amusing  himself  looking 
over  the  pictures,  as  they  appeared  in  one  of  Harper's 
periodicals.  The  door  standing  ajar,  a  boy  pushed  it 
wide  open,  and  entering  handed  Charles  a  note,  which  he 
read,  and  then  rising,  said :  "  President  Atkinson  wishes 
to  see  me  a  moment/'  laid  the  note  on  the  table  in  front  of 
Mr.  Dodge, and  left  the  room.  Charles  went  direct  to  the 
President's  house  and  found  Doctor  Atkinson  awaiting 
him  in  the  studio.  As  Reed  entered,  the  Professor,  who 
was  ever  remarkable  for  his  courteous  manners,  arose  to 
receive  him,  and  coming  forward,  took  Charles  by  the 
hand,  and  holding  it  in  both  of  his,  said :  *'  I  have  just 
received  a  letter  from  your  father,  and  as  I  am  to  answer 
by  telegram  at  once,  I  wanted  to  see  you  before  sending 
my  reply.  So  you  will  excuse  me  if  I  have  been  obliged 
to  interrupt  you  in  your  studies." 

"iSTo  interruption.  Doctor,  none  at  all;  I  had  put  my 
books  by  for  this  week." 

"Then  be  seated,  and  let  me  explain.  You  will  find 
that  cushioned  rocker  a  comfortable  chair.  I  call  that 
*  my  throne,'  and  use  it  when  I  am  tired,  which  you  look 
to  be  just  now." 

"  Only  a  little  fatigued,  Doctor — nothing  serious ;  noth- 
ing worth  the  mention." 


78 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 


"  Well,  I  am  glad  of  that,  Charles ;  you  must  let  me  call 
you  Charles  now,  for  you  are  soon  to  go  away  from 
college  and  leave  us,  and  it  has  been  a  pleasure  to  teach 
you."  The  good  old  man's  face  flushed  with  emotion,  and 
Charles,  feeling  more  than  he  could  express,  made  no 
reply  other  than  to  slip  Jiis  hand  into  that  of  the  dear 
old  Professor,  who  pressed  it  warmly  and  said,  as  the  eyes 
of  both  showed  the  feelings  of  their  hearts:  "  No  longer 
student  and  preceptor,  Charles — friends  now,  friends  ever, 
I  hope." 

Again  the  heart  of  the  j^oung  man  was  touched,  and 
again  words  were  denied  him.  He  tried  to  speak,  but 
his  lips  trembled ;  so  actions  had  to  speak  the  gratitude 
of  his  heart,  and  action  was  more  eloquent  than  words, 
for  the  tender-hearted  student  took  the  hand  of  his  dear 
old  Professor  and  pressed  it  firmly.  As  he  did  so  the 
benediction  of  a  Christian  heart  was  poured  out  in  a  deep 
and  earnest  blessing.  The  other  hand  of  the  good  old 
man  was  laid  upon  the  bended  head  of  the  w^arm-hearted 
student,  as  he  said :  "  God  bless  you,  my  friend.  May 
He  guide  you  and  guard  you  and  lead  you  through  life." 

Charles  continued  for  a  moment  with  his  head  bent 
down,  his  handkerchief  to  his  face,  while  the  Professor 
arose  from  his  chair  and  walked  back  and  forth  across 
the  room,  wiping  away  the  silent  tears  that  gathered  in 
his  eyes. 

At  length  the  Professor  paused  by  the  side  of  the  chair 
in  which  Charles  was  still  sitting,  and,  speaking  slowly 
and  with  some  effort,  said  :  "  Come,  now,  let  me  tell  you 
why  I  sent  for  you.  Your  father  is  in  Richmond  and 
expects  to  start  home  to-night.  He  w'ants  to  come  by 
and  see  you,  but  seems  to  be  afraid  that  it  might  not 
be  well  for  him  to  do  so,  as  he  thinks  his  coming  might 
divert  your  mind  from  your  studies  while  you  are  in  the 
midst  of  your  final  examinations.  I  should  have  tele- 
graphed him  not  to  come,  without  consulting  you,  had  it 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  79 

not  been  that  you  have  stood  all  of  your  examinations 
except  your  senior  mathematics ;  and  as  mathematics 
is  your  special  strong  point,  and  comes  to  you  as  past- 
time,  I  see  no  objection  to  the  proposed  visit  of  your 
father  if  you  desire  it." 

"  By  all  means  telegraph  him  to  come,  Doctor.  I  shall 
be  so  pleased  to  see  him.  Do  write  the  telegram  and  let 
me  go  and  forward  it." 

"  Well,  it  shall  be  as  you  say ;  but  I  have  one  other 
thing  to  tell  you  before  you  go,  and  as  your  father  is 
coming  I  feel  that  I  ought  to  tell  you  now  that  you  may 
not  allow  his  coming  to  lead  you  to  postpone  your 
'math'  examination  until  after  Mondayo  You  know 
the  rule.  The  first  honor  must  pass  all  examinations 
before  senior  vacation.  Tuesday  is  the  beginning  of 
senior  vacation." 

The  Professor  smiled  as  he  said  this,  and  looked  hard 
at  Charles  to  see  if  his  meaning  was  understood. 

Charles  could  but  note  the  manner  the  sentence  was 
emphasized,  as  well  as  the  expressive  smile.  He  saw  at 
once  what  was  intended,  and  for  a  moment  his  face  was 
all  aglow  with  pleasure  and  delight,  and  then  a  shadow 
came  over  it,  and  the  gladness  gave  place  to  a  sad  expres- 
sion. Charles  said  nothing,  but  looked  down  and  began 
to  pick  at  the  fringe  around  the  cover  of  the  centre-table. 

"  Do  you  understand  me,  Charles  ?  Do  you  understand 
what  I  am  trying  to  tell  you  without  more  express  words?" 

"  I  think  60,  Doctor." 

"Then  why  that  sad, '  I  think  so,  Doctor  P"^ 

"Because" 

"No  *becauses'  now,  friend  Charles.  You  go;  send 
this  telegram  to  your  father ;  and  do  you  dine  with  me 
Tuesday,  and  I  will  be  all  attention  to  your  'becauses.' 
But,  remember,  you  are  to  tell  what  you  know  about 
*math'  on  Monday." 

"But,  Doctor" 


£0  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

"  I'll  butt  you  out  of  that  door  if  you  butt  at  me  with 
another  but.  Come,  you  have  been  here  long  enough.  I 
shall  be  busy  now ;  besides,  if  you  want  to  see  your  father 
that  telegram  must  be  on  the  go."  So  smiling,  and  wav- 
ing his  hand,  he  dismissed  the  reluctant  Charles,  wdio 
passed  down  the  steps  with  so  sad  an  expression  he 
looked  more  like  one  who  had  been  scolded  than  one  who 
had  been  so  honored  and  blessed. 

The  dignified  and  elegant  Professor  saw  at  once  the 
drift  of  Charles's  thoughts,  and  divined,  without  further 
parley,  the  half  formed  resolution  that  was  taking  shape 
in  the  mind  of  his  young  friend,  and  wishing  to  avoid 
an  unpleasant  discussion,  plunged  into  that  butting  busi- 
ness as  the  safest  and  most  summary  way  of  dismissing 
the  subject  and  preventing  a  sacrifice,  which  he  felt  that 
he  could  not  and  ought  not  to  allow  Charles  to  make. 

As  Charles  passed  down  the  steps  and  out  on  to  the 
campus,  the  President  looked  aft-er  him  through  the  win- 
dow, and  speaking  half  aloud  to  himself,  said^  "  Noble 
boy ;  he  loves  his  friend — would  that  I  could  think  that 
friend  fully  worthy  of  such  love  as  glows  in  that  manly 
bosom.  I  may  be  mistaken,  but  I  can't  help  thinking 
that  there  was  something  wrong  about  the  examination 
on  *  Paley's  Evidences  of  Christianity.'  At  any  rate  this 
sacrifice  for  a  sentiment  must  not,  and  shall  not,  be  made. 
If  it  comes  to  the  worst  I  will  speak  to  his  father." 

As  Charles  walked  across  the  campus  towards  the  gate 
that  leads  into  the  main  road,  he  met  his  friend  Chester 
Hemphill,  who  greeted  him  with  "Hey-day,  old  chap; 
why  that  melancholy  brow — been  pitched  on  calico? 
Not  likely  you  would  be  pitched  on  anything  else  in  old 
*Hamp-Sids' curriculum.'  So  it  must  be  calico,  and  yet 
the  girl  that  would  pitch  you  ought  to  be  pickled  and 
pitched  into  pitchdum." 

"  None  of  your  nonsense  now,  Hemphill.  I  am  in  no 
humor  for  jesting;  come  go  with  me,  I  want  to  talk  to 

you." 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  81 

"  I  am  agreeable  on  the  going,  but  contifisticatilate 
your  idiosyncratic  humor,  what  do  I  care  for  that? 
When  was  Charles  Keed  ever  in  humor  so  bad  as  to 
make  him  ugly?" 

"  Come,  liemphill,  don't  make  sport  of  me  now.  I  am 
really  in  trouble." 

"  Faith  and  bejabbers,,  and  sure  it  be  trouble  that  ye 
are  after  getting  in.  Well  and  sure  an'  it  be  a  real  trou- 
ble ye  are  in  ?  The  same  and  up  to  me  armpits,  I  am 
into  it  meself." 

"Come,  Hemphill,  don't  laugh  at  me ;  I  am  really 
worried." 

"  Well,  to  be  serious,  let  me  say  that  if  there  is  any 
trouble,  I  know  as  well  as  I  know  that  Chester  Hemphill 
loves  Charles  Reed,  that  it  is  that  heart  of  yours  which  is 
getting  bigger  than  your  head — big  as  we  all  know  that 
to  be — that  is  doing  the  work."  With  this  Hemphill 
slipped  his  arm  around  Charles,  and  for  a  moment  the 
two  young  men  walked  on  in  silence.  Then  Hemphill 
said,  "  Well,  my  friend,  tell  me  what  it  is ;  you  know  I 
will  help  you  if  I  can," 

^  "  I  know  that,  Hemphill,  and  you  can  help  me;  at  least 
you  can  advise  me  what  to  do." 

"  Advice  is  cheap.  Reed  ;  anybody  could  give  that ;  but 
if  there  is  really  anything  gone  wrong,  I  hope  I  can  be 
of  service  to  you." 

"Well,  walk  with  me  while  I  hunt  a  boy  to  send  this 
telegram  to  father,  then  I  will  tell  you  all  about  it." 

At  the  mention  of  sending  a  telegram  to  Mr.  Reed, 
Hemphill  became  apprehensive  and  said,  "  Then  is  it 
really  so  serious  as  that,  Charles,  that  you  must  acquaint 
your  father  with  it?  If  so,  pray  forgive  me  for  having 
made  light  of  it  when  I  first  joined  j'ou." 

"  Oh  I  no ;  the  telegram  to  father  has  nothing  to  do 
with  it.     He  is  in  Richmond  and  wrote  that  he  would 
6 


©2  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

come  by  and  see  me  if  it  would  not  interfere  with  my 
studies.     Tlie  telegram  is  only  to  say  '  be  sure  to  come.'  " 

Just  here  they  met  a  boy,  and  Charles  taking  cut  his 
purse,  bargained  with  him  to  go  to  Farmville  and  take 
the  telegram.  A  horse  was  secured  at  the  livery  stable, 
and  the  boy  started.  Then  the  young  men.  turned  away 
from  the  regular  promenade  and  took  a  less  frequented 
path.  As  soon  as  they  were  well  out  on  the  way  Charles 
said,  "I  hardly  know  how  to  begin,  but  I  suppose  I 
ought  first  to  say  that  you  must  consider  what  I  tell  you 
confidential." 

"  That  is  all  right,  Charles,  you  know  that  is  all  right." 

"  Well,  this  afternoon  I  received  a  note  from  Dr.  Atkin- 
son requesting  me  to  come  over  to  his  studio.  When  I 
got  there  he  told  me  he  had  just  received  a  letter  from 
father,  saying  he  would  come  by  and  see  me  on  his  way 
home  from  Richmond  if  the  Doctorthought  it  would  not 
interfere  with  my  examinations.  We  talked  about  it  and 
agreed  that  he  should  come.  Then  the  Doctor  told  me, 
or  as  good  as  told  me,  that  if  I  would  only  stand  my 
senior  *  math '  on  Monday,  I  would  receive  the  honor  of 
first  graduate." 

"  I  am  so  glad,  Charles,  indeed  I  am  so  glad,"  and 
Hemphill  again  put  his  arm  around  Charles  and  gave 
him  a  regular  school-boy  squeeze. 

"  Indeed,  Charles,  old  boy,  I  am  delighted.  You  need 
not  mind  senior  math;  we  all  know  that  is  your  forte." 

"  Of  course  I  don't  mind  that,  Chester,  *  math,'  as  you 
say,  is  my  forte,  and  I  could  hardly  fail  on  that  if  I 
should  try,  but  that  ain't  the  point.  You  know  how 
Dodge  has  set  his  heart  on  the  first  honor.  It  will  be 
such  a  disappointment  to  him." 

"  I  expect  he  will  take  it  right  hard.  Reed,  but  that  you 
can't  help." 

"  Yes,  but  I  was  thinking  that  may  be  I  could  help 
him,  Chester,  and  ought  to  help  him,  and  save  him  this 
pisappointment.     You  know  I  won  the  medal  over  him.*^ 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  83 

"  Yes,  you  did;  but  I  have  always  believed  that  he  did 
something,  or  said  something,  which  caused  }  ou  to  change 
your  mind  in  that  matter ;  so  he  has  no  right  to  blame 
you  there." 

"  Well,  never  mind  about  that  part  of  it  now.  I  won 
the  medal,  and  I  know  that  he  felt  it,  though  he  said 
nothing.  In  fact,  his  saying  nothing  on  the_  subject 
makes  me  think  he  felt  it  then,  and  still  feels  it,  but  I 
really  think  he  will  feel  the  loss  of  the  first  honor,  if  I 
take  it,  far  more  than  the  loss  of  the  medal  Hemphill, 
I  really  think  he  has  set  his  whole  heart  and  soul  on 
winning  this  honor.  You  have  no  idea  how  hard  he  has 
studied  since  Xmas.  Then,  again,  I  feel  sure  that  he  is 
perfectly  confident  of  success.  He  has  no  idea  of  being 
defeated." 

"Well,  I  am  sorry  for  him,  Charles,  but  still  I  must 
say  I  am  glad — real  glad — that  you  are  to  be  first  nonor 
man  of  our  class.  I  do  not  wish  Dodge  any  bad  luck, 
but  Charles,  old  boy,  I  love  you,  and  1  know  that  you 
know  it."  Again  Hemphill's  arm  was  entwined  around 
Keed^s  waist. 

"  Thank  you,  Chester ;  thank  you  very  much.  But  j^ou 
know  that  I  love  you,  too,  as  well  as  you  do  me ;  and  you 
know,  also,  that  I  love  William  Dodge,  and  because  of 
that  love  I  want  to  help  him." 

"  But  how  can  you  help  him,  Charles  ?  What  can  you 
do?  You  have  proved  yourself  the  best  scholar  by  your 
examinations,  and  the  rules  of  the  school  confer  the 
honor.  You  do  not  take  it  from  him ;  you  could  not 
give  it  to  him  if  you  would." 

"  There,  you  forget,  Hemphill ;  for  if  I  cannot  actually 
give  it  to  him,  you  remember  there  is  a  way  that  I  can 
decline  to  win  it,  and  this  would  leave  the  field  open  to 
him." 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Charles  ?"  asked  Hemphill,  stop< 
ping  short  in  their  walk  and  facing  his  friend,  who  like- 
wise came  to  a  stand. 


84  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

The  rule,  dear  Hemphill,  the  rule,"  said  Charles, 
speaking  almost  timidly.  "  The  rule  which  requires  the 
first  graduate  to  complete  alt  examinations  before  the 
beginning  of  senior  vacation :  and  you  know  I  have 
senior  math  to  stand  yet." 

For  a  moment  Hemphill  stood  and  looked  at  Charles 
with  an  expression  half  incredulous  and  half  provoked, 
while  Charles  stood  with  downcast  eyes  making  marks  in 
the  sand  with  his  foot. 

"And  you  are  proposing  in  your  mind  to  ^cuV  math 
until  after  Monday,  and  let  Dodge  stand  the  examination 
and  so  receive  the  honor?" 

Yes,"  said  Reed,  still  marking  in  the  sand ;  "  that  is 
what  I  was  thinking.  Come,  now,  don't  be  angry  with 
me.  Do  you  not  think  I  owe  that  much  to  love  and 
friendship.  Think  how  hard  it  will  go  with  Dodge  to  be 
defeated." 

'Charles  Reed  I"  Hemphill  paused,  and  Reed  looked 
up.  The  eyes  of  the  two  3'oung  men  met — the  one  full 
of  displeasure;  the  other  all  tenderness  and  modesty. 
"  Do  you  see  yonder  frog-pond  covered  with  slime  and 
moss,  where  the  green-headed  bulls  are  bellowing?" 
Again  Hemphill  paused  and  stood,  pointing  with  his 
finger  at  the  dirty  pool  made  less  attractive  in  the  fading 
twilight. 

"  I  say,  Charles  Reed,  do  you  see  that  putrid  pond,  and 
do  you  hear  those  green  heads  croaking  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Charles,  faintly — looking  off  towards  the 
water." 

'*  Well,  I  have  a  mind  to  take  you  and  stick  you  right 
in  that  dirty  water  among  those  dirty  frogs." 

"  Don't  be  angry  with  me,  Chester ;  I  am  sure  I  want 
to  do  what  is  right." 

"  I  am  mad  with  you,  Charles ;  mad  because  I  know 
that  you  are  in  earnest  about  this  fool  notion  of  cutting 
*  math*  until  Tuesday,  in  order  to  leave  the  way  open  to 
Williara  Dodge.    This  weakness — this  sentimentality — ia 


YANKEfi   DOODLE  DIXIE.  86 

unworthy  of  you ;  for  you,  who  have  been  my  beau 
ideal  of  young  manhood,  to  give  way  to  such  folly  is 
sheer  nonsense ;  but  to  cut  the  matter  short,  let  me  tell  you 
plainly  you  are  not  to  do  it.  Promise  me  to  speak  to 
your  father,  or  I  will  promise  jon  that  I  will." 

"I  mean  to  do  that,  Chester;  of  course  I  will  explain 
to  him  fully." 

"Well,  now,  Charles,  that  is  all  right.  I  know  that 
settles  it;  but  I  am  still  half  inclined  to  duck  you  in 
that  dirty  water.  Now,  don't  you  think  a  small  dose — 
just  a  little  small  dose — would  do  you  good?" 

"  Well,  Hemphill,  I  dare  say  it  would,  and  if  to  take 
the  ducking  would  help  me  out  in  this  matter,  you  would 
indeed  do  me  a  service  to  souse  me  under.  You  cannot 
know  how  hurtful  it  is  to  my  feelings  to  think  that  I  3m 
to  be  the  cause  or  the  occasion  of  so  painful  a  disappoint- 
ment to  one  whom  I  love  so  tender!}'.  To  be  first  honor 
man  of  a  class  that  can  boast  of  such  students  as  you 
and  others,  Chester,  is,  indeed,  a  proud  achievement,  and 
I  pray  you  do  not  think  I  value  it  lightly,  but  when  I 
think  of  the  deep  and  dreadful  disappointment  that  I 
know  the  defeat  will  occasion  William,  all  the  pleasure — 
indeed  every  particle  of  the  pleasure — is  taken  away." 

"Well,  don't  let's  talk  about  it  any  more,  only  permit 
me  to  say  that  if  you  give  Dodge  credit  for  possessing  any 
pride  (not  to  moot  the  question  of  honor)  you  must  know 
that  he  could  not  consent  to  be  a  party  to  any  such 
arrangement." 

"I  did  not  propose  to  mention  the  matter  to  him; 
but" 

"Well,  well,  Charles, you  never  M'ill ;  you  will  speak  to 
your  father  and  there  the  matter  will  end.  Now  I  want 
you  to  forget  this  disagreeable  subject,  and  I  have  at 
hand  a  ready  way  to  make  you  do  it.  You  go  with  me 
to  tea  to-night,  and  I  will  introduce  you  to  Miss  Triplett, 
of  Richmond,  the  prettiest  girl  in  the  State;   she  only 


S6  Yankee  doodle  Dixifi. 

came  tliis  afternoon,  and  you  were  the  very  first  person 
she  inquired  after.  She  said  she  had  never  seen  you, 
but  she  was  at  school  last  winter  with  Miss  Moore — Miss 
Helen  Moore,  I  think,  she  said.  What  is  the  matter, 
Reed  I  Oh  !  you  sly  dog.  Stop  !  turn  that  face  this  way. 
Now  shine  out,  bright  moon,  and  let  me  read  the  story. 
Well — well — well,  I  thought  you  loved  me,  Charles  Reed. 
You  said  so ;  and  yet  you  have  not  told  me.  Hush  I  I'll 
not  force  your  confidence ;  for  I,  too,  have  been  silent 
when  I  might  have  spoken.  You  will  stay  with  me  to- 
night, after  we  have  paid  our  respects  to  the  pride  of 
Richmond,  and  we  will  vie  with  each  other  in  the  pleasing 
recitation  of  the  *  old,  old  story.' " 

Mr.  Dabney  Reed  came  the  next  morning.  Mr.  Reed, 
as  he  w^as  called,  for  that  was  before  the  days  of  cheap 
titles;  before  the  days  in  which  a  man  could  win  a  j^refix 
by  being  made  the  boss  of  a  saw-mill  or  the  foreman  of  a 
still-house;  before  the  days  when  every  fifteen-shilling 
county  court  lawyer  was  dubbed  colonel,  the  owner  of  a 
blacksmith  shop  called  captain,  the  keeper  of  a  cross- 
roads inn  styled  major,  and  the  proprietor  of  a  livery 
stable,  or  the  owner  of  a  fancy  horse,  elevated  to  the 
dignity  of  a  general,  while  an  itinerant  sword-swallower, 
a  traveling  dog-trainer,  or  w^andering  slack-rope  walker 
became  a  professor.  Slioddyisni  and  toadyism  and  boot- 
lickingism  were  not  among  the  fashionable  isms  during 
the  fifth  decade  of  this  glorious  nineteenth  century.  To 
have  been  a  colonel  then  a  man  was  suspected  to  have 
been  away  from  home  somewhere  during  some  time  in 
his  life,  and  to  have  heard  something  of  the  whisperings 
of  musket  ball's,  seen  something  of  the  flash  of  cannon, 
and  learn  to  distinguish  the  smell  of  burnt  powder  from 
bad  eggs;  but  tempora  mutantur  et  nos  mutamur  in  illis, 
and  so  the  world  wags  on.  Some  say  let  her  rock.  Some 
say  let  her  roll,  but  I  say  colonel  me  no  county  court 
lawyers;  captain  me  no  blacksmiths;  major  me  no  beer- 


VANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  87 

venders,  and  general  me  no  horse-jockeys ;  and,  oh,  do  for 
the  love  of  decency,  professor  me  no  sword-swallowers, 
dog-trainers,  or  rope-dancers ! 

We  were  saying  Mr.  Reed  came  the  next  day.  Charles, 
of  course,  was  delighted  to  see  him,  and  conducted  him 
around  from  place  to  place,  that  every  point  of  interest 
might  be  enjoyed;  and  much  there  was  to  see  which 
delighted  Mr.  Reed,  for  Ilampden-Sidney  was  his  dear  old 
alma  mater;  and  that  alumnus  who  loves  not  his  alma 
mater,  finds  the  love  wanting  only  because  his  days  spent 
there  were  days  void  of  credit  to  him.  They  visited  the 
old  chapel,  the  lecture  rooms  and  laboratory;  then  up 
.and  up  the  second  stairway  and  into  the  two  halls.  When 
they  entered  the  Union  Hall,  which  they  did  last,  at  Mr. 
Reed's  suggestion,  there  was  an  expression  of  pleasure 
that  spread  over  his  countenance  and  lit  up  his  face, 
which  made  the  splendid  features  of  the  brilliantly  intel- 
lectual man  almost  divinely  handsome.  He  looked 
around  at  the  well-filled  book-cases,  up  at  the  elegant 
chandeliers,  across  to  the  President's  chair,  along  the 
walls  at  the  various  scenes  beautifully  illustrating  Sir 
Walter  Scott's  "  Lady  of  the  Lake,"  and  then  up  at  the 
circling  motto  of  the  society,  which  he  read  aloud,  "  Me 
socium  suviviis  adjimgere  rebus;"  and  continuing,  said, 
"How  well  I  remember — how  well  I  remember — just 
thirty  years  ago  to-day  since  last  I  stood  here  in  this  dear 
old  hall,  and  now  the  scene  of  that  day  comes  back  to  me 
with  all  the  freshness  of  the  J'oung  manhood  which  was 
then  upon  me.     Let  me  say,  with  Coleridge — • 

Oh  '  how  dear  to  my  heart  are  the  scenes  of  ray  childhood, 
When  fond  recollections  present  them  to  view.' 

"Yes,  truly,  some  of  the  most  pleasant  recollections  of 
my  life  are  associated  with  this  dear  old  hall,  and  I  shall 
never,  no,  never,  forget  them.  As  I  stand  here  now  the 
imagination  can  refill  these  chairs  with  the  forms  and 


88  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

bring  back  to  memory  the  faces  of  many  loved  friends, 
some  of  whom  are  now  enjoying  a  nation's  trust  and 
confidence,  and,  alas,  some  sweetly  sleeping  the  long 
dreamless  sleep  of  death.  To  the  first,  I  say  again,  as  I 
Said  that  day  when  we  parted,  *  I  bid  you  godspeed — to 
the  departed  spirits  I  breathe  rcguresca^  m  pace.'''*  Then 
for  a  moment  Mr.  Reed  stood  ii\  silence,  and  then  his  lips 
moved,  and  again  the  words  scarcely  above  a  whisper 
escaped  him,  "  requiescat  in  pace." 

It  had  been  arranged  that  Mr.  Reed  should  dine  with 
Dr.  Atkinson,  Charles  declining  an  invitation,  in  order 
that  his  father  and  the  Doctor  might  enjoy  an  uninter- 
rupted chat  about  the  good  old  days  when  they  were 
"boys  together." 

After  dinner,  as  Mr.  Reed  smoked  his  cigar  on  the 
porch,  the  Doctor  took  occasion  to  let  Mr.  Reed  know  that 
senior  vacation  would  begin  on  Tuesday,  and  that  for 
that  reason  it  was  important  for  Charles  to  stand  his  last 
fexamination  the  next  day. 

Mr.  Reed  understood,  and  showed  his  very  great  grati- 
fication at  Charles's  success,  but  said  nothing  that  would 
cause  the  Doctor  to  give  way,  in  explicit  terms,  a  college 
secret  before  the  time  allowed  the  telling. 

That  night  Mr.  Reed  and  Charles  attended  service  in 
the  new  chapel,  after  which  they  went  to  Charles's  room, 
Mr.  Dodge  very  thoughtfully  absenting  himself  that 
father  and  son  might  be  left  alone  together.  Soon  after 
they  entered  the  room,  Mr.  Reed  told  Charles  what  Dr. 
Atkinson  had  said  in  regard  to  the  examination  for  the 
next  day,  and  then  placing  his  hand  on  Charles's  shoulder, 
told  him  how  exceedingly  pleased  he  was  at  his  son's  suc- 
cess. Charles  said  but  very  little  until  his  father  had 
ceased  talking,  and  then  he  tried  to  tell  him  and  explain 
to  him,  without  coming  right  to  the  point,  his'  wish  to 
"  cut "  math  the  next  day  and  stand  the  examination  on 
Tuesday. 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  89 

Mr.  Heed  did  not  understand  Charles,  simply  because 
Charles  had  failed  to  speak  out  plainly.  Charles  had 
said  right  much  about  Mr.  Dodge,  his  great  love  for  his 
friend,  the  hurt  that  would  be  given  Mr.  Dodge's  feelings 
to  be  defeated,  and  how  painful  it  was  for  one  friend  to 
be  the  occasion  of  disappointment  to  another,  &c.,  and 
so  on  ;  but  still  Mr.  Reed  did  not  take  in  the  point  aimed 
at,  and  as  Mr.  Reed  had  only  been  given  a  hint,  and  had 
been  told  nothing  in  direct  terms,  the  two  men  talked  at 
each  other  to  disadvantage,  but  finally  ]\Ir.  Reed  came  to 
comprehend  Charles,  and  so  soon  as  he  did  so,  said,  "  Do 
I  understand  you  to  mean  that  it  is  your  wish  (I  will  not 
use  the  word  intention)  to  postpone  your  fast  examination 
until  after  to-morrow  in  order  to  leave  the  field  clear  for 
Mr.  Dodge  to  receive  the  first  honor  ?  " 

Again  Charles  tried  to  avoid  the  direct  issue  and  an- 
swered his  father  by  answering  the  question,  "  Do  you 
not  think,  father,  it  would  be  right  for  me  to  do  so?" 

"No,"  said  Mr.  Reed,  emphatically,  and  with  some 
sharpness ;   "  and  what  is  more,  I  will  not  allow  it." 

Tlie  eyes  of  the  two  men  met,  and  the  expression  of 
Mr.  Reed's  was  more  displeased  than,  perhaps,  Charles 
had  ever  seen  them  before.  Charles  felt  hurt  and  w^ound- 
ed,  and  let  his  eyes  fall  to  the  floor.  Mr.  Reed  stood  a 
moment  silent,  then  said  in  a  tone  much  milder,  *'  I  ought 
to  start  home  in  the  morning,  Charles,  but  if  you  make 
it  necessary,  my  son,  I  will  stay  until  the  evening  train." 

Charles  said  not  a  w^ord  in  reply,  but  lie  arose  without 
hesitation,  and  walked  over  to  his  father  and  put  his 
arms  around  his  neck.  Mr.  Reed  clasped  his  son  to  his 
breast,  and  said,  "  God  bless  you,  my  noble  boy." 

The  next  morning  Mr.  Reed  started  for  home,  but  not 
until  after  he  had  seen  Mr.  Dodge,  and  given  him  a 
special  invitation  to  visit  them  whenever  circumstances 
would  make  it  convenient,  which  invitation  Dodge  pro- 
mised to  accept,  and  did  accept,  as  we  have  seen  in  a 
previous  chapter. 


CHAPTER  V. 

TUESDAY  MOKNING  came  bright  and  clear.  Sum- 
mer in  the  South  is  ever  lovely.  The  first  of  June  is 
the  loveliest  of  the  lovely  seasons,  and  College  Hill  at 
dear  old  Hampden-Sidney  is  among  the  loveliest  spots  in 
all  the  lovely  land  of  the  Sunny  South.  Flowers  and 
shade  trees,  grass,  birds,  bees,  and  gay-winged  butter- 
flies ;  sunshine  overiiead,  sunshine  in  every  home,  sun- 
shine in  every  heart,  music  in  every  breeze,  poetry  in 
every  motion,  peace  in  every  soul,  plenty  at  every  door  I 
Even  the  dear  old  bell  that  swings  in  the  belfry  to  the 
steady  pull  of  old  John  Dean,  the  venerable  janitor,  has 
a  charm  and  a  fascination,  and  finds  a  pleasing  tone  in 
which  to  tell  the  world  that  here  on  earth  peace  and  good 
will  reign  among  men.  Where,  oh,  where,  are  my  class- 
mates that  rolled  on  that  grass  with  me,  who  yielded  to 
the  pleasant  invitation  of  those  waving,  beckoning  trees, 
who  with  me  watched  the  play  of  the  sunlight,  saw  the 
birds  and  heard  the  bees  while  we  drank  the  cup  of 
friendship  and  joined  a  circle  of  pleasing  converse  at 
dear  old  Hampden-Sidney,  the  home  of  health,  high 
hopes  and  culture — happiness,  peace  and  poesy ! 

To  each  of  you,  far,  far  away,  scattered  the  wide  w^orld 
over,  on  the  land  or  on  the  sea,  in  sickness  or  in  health, 
in  poverty  or  in  wealth,  in  festive  halls  or  in  silent  groves, 
I  send  a  brother's  greeting — a  classmate's  love. 

How  tenderly  it  touches  the  heart  to  go  back  to  those 
days  of  the  long  ago.  How  it  alternately  gladdens  and 
then  grieves  the  soul  to  lift  the  veil  from  the  past  and 
look  again  upon  the  happy  faces  of  loved  companions, 
bright  with  the  hopes  of  young  manhood,  and  then  turn 

(90) 


'YANfeSE  i)ooi)Lfi  r>ixiE.  dl 

and  gaze  upon  the  same  face,  cold  and  pale  in  death* 
Life  to  the  young  is  so  sweet ;  hope  is  so  comforting;  faith 
is  so  strong.  'Tis  hard  to  die,  and  yet  to  live  and  bear 
the  vicissitudes  of  life  is  compensation  poor  for  defeated 
hopes  and  ruined  prospects.  Oh!  that  life  could  last 
and  ever  run  the  silvery  stream  of  youth  or  the  rippling 
brook  of  childhood.  Then  the  soul  pining  in  sorrow,  or 
awaiting  in  sadness,  would  never  sing — 

"  Backward,  flow  backward,  oh  !  time  in  your  flight, 
Make  me  a  child  again  just  for  to-night ; 
Over  my  slumbers  your  loving  watch  keep, 
Rock  me  to  sleep,  mother,  rock  me  to  sleep." 

Tuesday  morning  came  bright  and  clear  and  beautiful ; 
sunshine  and  gladness,  fragrance  and  the  sweet  aroma  of 
flowers  filled  the  air.  Nine  o'clock  came,  and  John  Dean 
stood  under  the  belfry  and  steadily  pulled  the  rope,  and 
out  over  the  fresh  morning  atmosphere  the  tones  of  the 
old  chapel  bell  floated,  sounding  the  sweet  hour  of  prayer : 
ringing, steadily  ringing — calling,  gently  calling  "come  to 
prayer."  That  old  bell  sounded  no  tocsin  of  war,  no 
alarm  of  battle,  no  summons  to  strife,  but  to  prayer,  and 
the  boys  answered  it  with  many  a  glad  call,  as  they 
dropped  the  bat  and  the  ball,  left  their  marbles,  quit  the 
gymnasium,  and  joined  in  the  march  to  the  house  of 
prayer.  The  good  old  Doctor  came  across  the  campus 
from  his  home  towards  the  college  building;  his  hat  on 
the  back  of  his  head,  his  books  under  his  arm,  his  gold 
spectacles  on  his  nose,  his  smile  all  over  his  face;  his 
steps  hurried,  he  wants  to  be  in  his  place  prompt  to  the 
second.  He  almost  takes  the  grin — that  "  little  chick"  of 
a  laugh  I  told  you  about  once  before.  He  sees  the  boys 
consult  their  watches.  He  hears  their  familiar,  friendly, 
playful  comment,  "  two  seconds  behind."  Do  you  see  him, 
boys  ?  You,  I  mean,  old  students  of  dear  old  Hampden- 
tSidney.  You  who  knew  him  as  I  knew  him,  and  loved 
him  as  I  loved  him.     He  is  gone  now,  gone  to  his  hap- 


95  YANKEE  DOODLE   DIXIE. 

pier  home,  gone  to  hold  prayer  with  those  who  preached 
Jesus  and  taught  the  love  of  Christ.  God  rest  his  soul ! 
He  is  gone — ^gone  to  his  grave ;  but  the  good  he  did  will 
never  die. 

The  Doctor  entered  the  chapel,  passed  on  to  the  plat- 
form, and  opened  the  well-worn  Old  Testament,  which  had 
done  service  there  for  many  a  long  year,  read  the  xxi 
chapter  of  Revelations,  that  beautiful  vision  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,  vouchsafed  to  St.  John  as  a  partial  reward  for 
the  terrible  agonies  of  body  which  he  had  been  called 
upon  to  suffer  for  the  cause  of  Christ;  after  which  he 
prayed  a  most  impressive  prayer,  full  of  deep  and  earnest 
gratitude  for  the  many  blessings  of  the  past,  and  invok- 
ing divine  grace  and  guidance  for  the  future. 

The  chapel  w^as  full  of  students — some  hundred  or 
more  being  present.  There  was  no  compulsion  in  the 
matter  of  attendance,  and  those  who  generally  came  did 
so  either  to  seek  daily  comfort  and  guidance,  or  simply 
because  they  knew  it  to  be  the  earnest  wish  of  the  faculty. 
That  morning  an  unusually  large  number  of  students 
was  present,  attracted  hither  by  interest  or  curiosit}'', 
because  of  an  old  custom  for  the  President  to  announce 
at  morning  chapel,  on  the  first  day  of  senior  vacation, 
the  name  of  the  successful  competitor  for  the  honor  of 
first  graduate. 

When  the  pra3"er  was  ended — amen  said — chapel  ser- 
vice was  over,  but  not  a  boy  moved.  Every  eye  was  fixed 
on  the  Doctor;  every  attention  was  engaged;  expectation 
stood  earnestly  waiting ;  silence  attended.  The  Doctor 
knew  why  the  students  lingered ;  knew  that  he  had  a 
duty  to  perform,  and  yet  he  hesitated.  Hesitated  in  part 
because  of  that  great  natural  modesty  which  alv\'ays  ran 
and  overtook  him  whenever  he  had  anj'thing  special  to 
say  in  public,  the  least  out  of  the  usual  way,  and  partly 
because  he  knew"  and  felt  that  in  announcing  the  name 
of  one  he  would  crush  the  hopes  and  wound  the  feelinga 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  93 

of  another.  He  perfectly  understood  the  confident  expec- 
tation of  William  Dodge ;  the  full  satisfaction  and  hope 
of  success  in  which  he  rested  contented.  As  the  Doctor 
stood  somewhat  embarrassed  by  the  circumstances,  he 
glanced  his  eyes  over  to  the  left  where  Dodge  was  sitting 
wuth  his  arms  thrown  back  on  his  seat,  assuming  an  air 
of  indifference,  as  though  he  had  no  personal  interest  in  the 
matter  about  to  be  acted  upon.  The  eyes  of  the  two  men 
met,  and  the  Doctor  feeling  assured  that  the  air  of  non- 
chalance was  assumed,  and  that  confidence  was  its  sup- 
port, could  but  feel  some  touch  of  pity.  He  showed  it. 
Every  student  present  saw  it.  The  serious  expression 
was  almost,  if  not  quite,  a  shadow  of  sadness.  Dodge 
saw  it,  also,  and  a  cold,  chill  crept  over  him  and- stopped 
at  his  heart,  but  he  continued  to  look  straight  at  the  Doc- 
tor so  hard  and  earnest  that  the  look  almost  became  a 
stare.  The  Doctor  fumbled  with  his  books  and  papers  for 
one  moment,  during  which  the  silence  became  oppres- 
sive, and  then,  selecting  one  as  though  it  contained  some- 
thing he  wished  to  read,  said  :  "  To-day  is  the  beginning 
of  senior  vacation,  and,  according  to  custom,  you  are  no 
doubt  waiting  to  hear  the  name  of  the  successful  candi- 
date for  the  honor  of  first  graduate.  The  faculty  met 
last  night,  and  the  vote  was  a  unit.  I  fear  it  will  be  a 
surprise  to  some  and  the  source  of  a  great  disappoint- 
ment to  one,  but  I  trust  the  disappointment  will  be  borne 
with  proper  fortitude,  and  that  consolation  can  be  found 
in  the  thought  that  brilliancy  has  only  been  overcome 
by  superior  industry  joined  with  genius.  I  have  the 
honor  to  name  as  the  first  graduate  of  this  session,  Charles 
Reed,  of  Virginia" 

The  name  Charles  Reed  was  scarcely  out  of  the 
Doctor's  mouth  when  the  whole  school  leaped  upon  the 
benches  and  waved  their  hats  and  cheered  in  the  wildest 
and  most  vociferous  manner.  Then  the  boys,  as  though 
moved  by  one  impulse,  rushed  at  Charles,  beat  his  back 


94  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

and  shook  his  hands,  and  finally  seized  him  and  lifted 
him  in  the  air,  and  bore  him  upon  their  shoulders  out 
upon  the  campus,  and  then  around  and  around  the  col- 
lege building  screaming  and  hallooing  and  cheering  and 
laughing  and  throwing  up  hats  in  the  wildest  and  most 
frenzied  manner.  There  was  nothing  for  Charles  to  do 
but  submit,  and  this  he  did  with  as  much  grace  as  the 
circumstances  would  permit. 

The  demonstration  made  over  Charles  afforded  an 
opportunity  for  William  Dodge  to  slip  away  without 
attracting  attention,  but  the  few  who  were  near  him  at 
the  moment  the  decision  in  Charles's  favor  was  announced, 
saw  the  effect  it  had  upon  Dodge,  he  turned  pale  as 
death,  every  particle  of  color  fled  from  his  face,  and  that 
ghastly,  sickly,  bluish  pallor,  which  tells  of  the  terrible 
anguish  of  heart  and  soul,  spread  over  his  countenance. 
His  eyes  popped  open  with  a  wild,  vacant  look,  void  of 
expression,  his  lips  parted  and  his  chin  fell,  and  his 
hands  dropped  upon  the  desk  in  front  of  him.  Hemp- 
hill, who  stood  near,  thought  he  would  faint  and  fall, 
and  started  toward  him,  but  Dodge  seemed  to  rally  suffi- 
cient strength  to  rise  and  stagger  out  of  the  chapel. 

As  the  crowd  with  Charles  passed  out  at  the  eastern 
door,  towards  the  front  of  the  college  building.  Dodge 
turned  w^est,  passed  in  rear  of  the  building,  on  to  the 
fourth  passage,  then  up  the  stairway  to  his  room  on  the 
top  floor,  he  closed  and  locked  the  door,  then  threw 
himself  on  the  bed  and  burst  into  an  angry  fit  of  tears. 

Three  times  the  boys  carried  Charles  around  the  col- 
lege building;  they  cheering  and  hallooing  and  laugh- 
ing; he  smiling  and  waving  his  hat,  submitting  to  the 
undignified  frolic  in  the  best  of  humor.  As  the  crowd 
came  around  the  third  tim6  and  approached  the  fourth 
passage,  the  boys  stopped  and  let  Charles  down  from  his 
triumphant  position.  The  cheering  ceased,  and  the 
students  stood  laughing  and  panting,  warm  from  the  run. 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  95 

All  at  once,  a  terrible  scream  was  heard,  quickly  repeated, 
with  soul-freezing  liorror.  All  eyes  were  turned  towards 
the  top  window  of  the  fourth  passage;  for  a  moment 
three  figures  were  seen.  There  was  a  scuffle,  there  was 
a  shuffling  of  feet,  and  then  one  of  the  men  appeared  in 
the  window,  his  face  inwards,  his  feet  resting  on  the  sill; 
the  two  men  back  of  him  holding  him  by  the  arms.  My 
God  I  he  will  fall.  'Tis  Dodge,  his  coat  and  hat  are  recog- 
nized ;  every  soul  was  congealed  with  horror,  every  heart 
stood  still,  every  hair  stood  on  end,  every  foot  stood  Toot- 
ed to  the  ground,  every  eye  seemed  to  start  from,  its 
socket.  The  agony  of  years  rushed  into  that  single 
moment  of  time — that  moment  of  death  and.  suspense — 
blood-curdling  suspense.  The  body  swayed ;  the  two  men 
could  not  keep  their  hold ;  again  the  body  swayed — one 
piercing  shriek — then  arms  flew  up,  and  down — down — 
down  like  a  flash  the  figure  came  and  struck  the  ground 
with  an  awful  thud.  Oh!  my  God,  went  up  from  every 
lip.  The  students  rushed  towards  the  fallen  man;  they 
turned  him  on  his  back,  and  then  there  was  a  pause.  A 
loud  laugh  sounded  from  the  upper  window  ;  Tom  Price 

stood  there.     The  man  that  fell  was  made  of straw ! 

And  the  crowd,  like  you,  my  readers,  was  sold. 

The  boys  made  a  rush  for  Price,  and  could  they  have 
gotten  at  him,  a  ducking  would  have  paid  the  penalty  of 
his  cruel  joke ;  but  the  double  bars  and  the  strong  lock  on 
his  door  stood  the  pressure  of  many  a  hard  lick,  and 
saved  Tom  and  his  companion  a  bath  in.  the  frog  pond. 
Tom  enjoyed  the  laugh  ;  he  appeared  at  the  window,  and 
as  "Walker  shook  his  fist  at  him,  Tom  put  an  old  bonnet 
on-  the  head  of  his  companion,  and  shouted  to  Walker, 
"I  am  got  the 'palanquin!'  I  am  got  the  'conjugal 
felicity  I'  I  am  lashed  to  the  *  car  of  woman's  devotion  1' 
Don't  mind  me,  boys  ;  just  take  care  of  that  coat  and  hat 
I  accidentally  borrowed  from  Dodge.  He  is  all  riglit; 
I'll  stand  treat  when  you  catch  me  unhitched  from  the 
'car  of  conjugal  felicity!'" 


^6  YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE. 

"With  this  tender  of  atonement  to  the  soreheads  below, 
he  wound  his  arms  around  the  neck  of  his  "conjugal 
felicity"  and  disappeared  from  the  window. 

During  the  entire  forenoon,  William  Dodge  kept  to  his 
room  with  the  door  securely  locked — now  lying  on  the 
bed  weeping  and  crying  in  fits  of  hysterics;  no^  walk- 
ing  to  and  fro  across  the  room  in  a  perfect  frenzy  of  pas- 
sion. One  moment  he  would  be  humiliated  to  the  very 
dust;  the  next,  the  raging  whirlwind  of  fiendish  anger 
would  bear  him  upward  to  the  seventh  heaven  of  grati- 
fying revenge.  He  would  stand  with  his  hands  clinched 
until  the  nails  seemed,  buried  in  the  flesh,  and  shake  his 
fist  at  the  corner  as  though  Charles  Reed  stood  cowering 
there;  now  uttering  the  blackest  and  most  blasting 
curses  that  fury  could  fashion.  His  eyes  glared  like  the 
eyes  of  an  infuriated  wild,  beast,  and  great  knots  stood 
out  on  his  forehead  as  though  every  muscle  in  his  body 
would  burst  with  the  terrible  tension  to  which  it  was 
subjected.  His  face  almost  foamed  with  perspiration,  and 
the  froth  gathered  at  the  corners  of  his  mouth  like  that 
of  a  run-mad  dog.  He  was  no  longer  William  Dodge. 
He  was  an  embodied  demon,  capable  of  the  darkest  deed 
that  could  be  hatched  in  the  hottest  hole  in  hell.  He 
was  furious;  his  soul  was  a  consuming  fire;  he  had 
wished  for  revenge;  he  thirsted  for  it  now,  and  with  a 
thirst  so  hot  and  parching,  it  sapped  every  fountain  of 
humanity  that  had  ever  moistened  in  his  heart.  If  there 
ever  had  been  one  particle  of  affection  in  his  nature  it 
was  turned  now  to  ashes  and  cinders,  harder  and  drier 
than  Vesuvian  lava.  If  he  had  pledged  himself  to 
revenge  before,  he  swore  it  now  with  all  the  bitter  blas- 
phemy of  defiant  infidelity.  He  fairly  hissed  his  words 
between  his  half-locked  teeth,  and  his  oaths  were  so  hot 
with  passion  they  seemed  to  blister  his  tongue.  In  his 
fury  he  beat  his  hands  against  the  table,  tore  his  hair 
and  rent  his  clothes  from  his  body.     No  wild  beast  trans- 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  97 

ported  with  frightful  passion  ever  beat  the  bars  of  his 
cage  with  more  fury  than  did  Dodge  lash  his  own  body- 
in  his  demon-like  anger.  The  spirit  of  destruction  was 
upon  him,  and  he  turned  from  side  to  side  for  some 
object  on  which  he  could  lay  his  hand  and  vent  his 
wrath,  until  at  length  he  saw  his  face,  made  hideous  with 
the  contortions  of  passion,  reflected  from  the  mirror. 
He  seized  a  stick  of  wood,  and  rushing  at  the  mirror  shat- 
tered it  into  a  million  of  pieces,  and  then  his  rage  getting 
the  better  of  him,  he  fell  upon  the  floor  and  sobbed  and 
cried,  as  though  his  very  soul  would  burst.  In  this  state 
he  continued  until  nature  gave  way  from  sheer  physical 
exhaustion  and  he  passed  into  a  feverish  sleej). 

Several  times  during  the  day  Charles  Keed  and  other 
of  Dodge's  friends  came  to  look  him  up,  thinking  to 
show  him  due  respect,  but  finding  the  door  locked,  con- 
cluded that  he  had  dropped  to  sleep  and  went  away 
believing  that  rest  and  quiet  were  the  best  for  him. 

Late  that  afternoon  Dodge  got  up,  bathed  his  face  and 
set  the  room  to  rights.  The  broken  glass  he  swept  into 
the  fire-place;  he  then  unlocked  the  door  and  took  a  seat 
at  the  open  window.  He  felt  miserable;  he  was  weak 
and  feverish,  his  hands  were  hot,  and  his  face  burned, 
and  his  tongue  seemed  greatly  swollen;  his  breath  was  bad, 
and  there  was  a  disgusting  taste  in  his  mouth.  His  face 
was  turned  to  the  open  window,  and  his  gaze  any  one 
might  have  thought  was  fixed  upon  the  lovely  landscape 
that  lay  spread  out  before  him,  but  for  the  sad,  care- 
worn expression  of  his  countenance.  This  told,  alas! 
too  plainly  that  he  was  not  thinking  of  anything  half  so 
pleasing  as  the  beautiful  picture  of  hills  and  homes,  green 
fields,  grazing  cattle,  and  forest  back-ground. 

Long  he  sat  there  motionless,  sad  and  silent ;  then  a 

deep  sigh  heaved  his  breast,  he  rested  his  elbow  on  the 

window,  leaned  his  head  on  his  hand,  and  said,  half 

aloud;  "  It  all  seems  like  a  frightful  dream,  yet  I  know  it 

7 


98  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXTfi. 

is  not  a  dream,  but  a  sad,  sad  reality."  Then  a  long 
pause,  aud  again,  "I  do  believe  I  am  going  to  be  sick — -I 
feel  so  strange  aud  badly."  Then  another  loug  pause, 
the  while  he  sat  still  gazing  out  through  the  open  window. 
Finally  he  arose  and  walked  to  and  fro  across  the  room, 
his  hands  locked  behind  him,  his  head  bent  low.  Then 
he  said  in  a  voice  calm,  but  sad,  "Well,  be  it  so.  He  has 
triumphed  for  the  present,  but  some  day  the  tables  will 
turn.  I  have  sworn  the  vendetta.  Him  and  his  I  will 
pursue  down  to  the  end  of  the  last  chapter." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CHARLES  REED  dined  with  the  President,  in  accord- 
ance with  tlie  previous  invitation;  but  there  were  no 
"been uses"  to  be  attended  to.  They  had  an  old  Virginia 
dinner,  and  to  know  just  what  that  means,  reader,  you 
must  come  down  from  the  frozen  North  or  up  from  tlie 
sultry  South  and  eat  one.  Bring  a  good  appetite.  You 
will  find  the  dinner  hot  and  the  welcome  warm.  Del- 
monico  may  get  them  up  more  fancy — give  his  dishes 
long  French  names,  and  place  them  in  better  style — but 
he  can't  beat  an  old  Virginia  country  dinner  on  being 
good;  for  Delmonico  never  did  know,  and  never  will 
know,  how  to  cook  that  royal  feast  in  a  single  dish — that 
king  of  kingly  dishes — an  old  Virginia  Brunswick  stew. 
Later  in  the  afternoon  Chester  Hemphill  called  by  the 
President's  for  Charles,  and  the  two  young  men  took  a 
walk.  They  returned  to  college  just  before  dusk  and 
went  at  once  in  search  of  Dodge.  They  found  him  in 
his  room  lying  on  the  bed  in  a  partial  doze.  He  expressed 
himself  as  glad  to  see  them,  but  said  he  was  not  feeling 
well — in  fact,  slept  but  little  the  night  before,  and  had 
been  feeling  badly  all  day.  Hemj^hill  took  hold  of 
Dodge's  hand,  and  was  much  surprised  to  find  it  burning 
hot.  Charles  went  at  once  to  call  a  physician,  and  meet- 
ing Dr.  Metteaur,  who  happened  to  be  passing  across  the 
campus,  they  hastened  back  to  tlie  room.  The  Doctor 
made  a  careful  examination  of  Dodge's  tongue,  chest  and 
stomach,  the  two  young  men  standing  by  with  serious 
faces,  thinking  it  took  the  Doctor  a  longtime  to  makeup 
his  mind  what  was  the  matter;  but  at  length  he  spoke 
(but  in  that  hesitating  way  the  doctors  have,  which  leaves 
the  friends  of  the  patient  to  think  they  are  not  telling 
the  whole  story),  and  said,  "He  certainly  has  considerable 
fever."     He  then  asked  Dodge  quite  a  number  of  ques- 


100    ■  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

tions,  but  received  no  information  further  than  that  the 
patient  did  not  rest  well  the  niglit  before,  and  had  been 
feeling  badly  all  day. 

The  Doctor  then  told  Dodge  that  he  Mas  afraid  he  was 
threatened  with  typhoid  fever,  and  advised  him  to  lose 
no  time  but  to  hasten  home  while  he  was  yet  able  to 
travel,  adding  that  in  case  it  was  not  typhoid  fever  the 
trip  would  do  him  good,  and  he  could  return  in  -ample 
time  for  the  commencement  exercises.  This  advice  seemed 
to  meet  with  Dodge's  approval,  for  he  consented  at  once 
to  go,  and  said  he  had  plenty  of  time  to  catch  the  nine 
o'clock  train  at  Farmville,  and  so  be  home  to  breakfast 
the  next  morning.  Both  Charles  and  Chester  offered  to 
accompany  him  home,  but  Dodge  declined  their  offer, 
saying  it  was  unnecessary,  that  he  felt  fully  able  to  make 
the  trip  alone. 

A  hack  was  ordered  which  came  prompth^  and  the 
three  men  despite  Dodge's  protestations  accompanied  him 
as  far  as  Farmville  and  saw  him  safely  aboard  the  cars, 
w^here  they  bade  him  good-bye;  not,  however,  without 
many  earnest  wishes  from  all  three  that  he  would  soon 
be  well  and  safely  back  in  full  time  for  the  commence- 
ment exercises;  Charles  adding,  "but,  Dodge,  in  case  you 
can't  come  back  and  be  with  us  at  the  commencement, 
don't  forget  your  promise  to  visit  me  at  my  home  at  a  day 
just  as  early  as  you  j^ossibly  can." 

Dodge  promised.  The  train  started  and  the  two  3'oung 
men  were  separated,  to  meet  again,  it  is  true,  but  under 
very  different  circumstances,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  open- 
ing chapter  of  this  narration. 

Dodge  had  quite  a  spell  of  sickness.  He  never  returned 
to  college.  Charles  received  the  degrees  and  the  honors 
which  he  had  fairly  won,  and  returned  home  and  began  at 
once  to  read  law  under  his  father's  guidance,  and  never  saw 
William  Dodge  again  until  he  came  to  himself  after  that 
terrible  fall  from  his  horse,  to  which  time  the  reader  must 
now  go  back  and  take  up  the  story  where  we  then  left  it. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  home  of  Colonel  Moore  was  famed  far  and  wide 
for  its  splendor  of  compartments,  elegance  of  appoint- 
ments, picturesque  surroundings,  and  genuine  whole- 
souled  hospitality.  The  stranger  found  here  a  friend, 
and  the  friend  found  here  a  second  home.  Truly  it 
might  be  said  that  "the  latch-string  hung  on  the  out- 
side of  the  door,"  while  within  bright  blazed  the  fire 
which  gave  welcome  and  warmth  to  the  weary  traveler, 
to  the  passing  stranger,  the  loved  friend,  or  the  boon  com- 
panion. The  Grove  had  been  the  home  of  the  Moore 
family  from  a  period  far  back  into  Colonial  times.  Asliby 
Moore,  the  great-grandfather  of  Beverly  Moore,  received 
his  title-deeds  direct  from  the  hands  of  George  III,  and 
with  them  the  blessing  and  best  wishes  of  that  most  un- 
fortunate but  Christian  monarch.  Ashby  Moore  claimed 
for  himself  the  hospitality  of  royalty,  and  most  royally 
he  knew  how  to  bestow  it  in  return.  IsTor  could  it  be  said 
that  the  Moores  of  the  present  generation  "were  degene- 
rate sons  of  noble  sires." 

Beverly  IMoore  was  indeed  the  Virginia  gentleman  in 
the  full  meaning  of  all  that  those  words  imply.  He  was 
affectionate  as  a  child,  liberal  as  a  prince,  true  as  a  knight, 
and  noble  as  a  Roman.  There  was  no  guile  in  his  heart,  no 
selfishness  in  his  nature,  no  meanness  in  his  soul,  no  suspi- 
cion in  his  breast.  Fair,  open,  and  candid  to  all  the  world, 
he  expected  the  same  of  all  the  world  towards  himself. 

The  very  light  of  his  life  was  love.  The  sky  above 
him,  the  earth  beneath  him,  the  air  around  him,  were  to 
him  the  gifts  of  love.  And  out  from  his  soul  true  filial 
affection  and  Christian  gratitude  rolled  unceasing  as  the 
waters  of  the  sea.  He  loved  his  neighbors;  he  loved  his 
friends;  he  loved  his  country ;  he  loved  his  native  State ; 
(101) 


102  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

he  loved  his  servants ;  ne  loved  his  child,  his  own  beauti- 
ful daughter — his  matchless  Helen.  On  her  cheek  he 
saw  again  the  bloom  and  the  blush  of  the  maiden  mod- 
esty that  first  wooed  his  young  heart  to  the  fountains  of 
afl^ction,  whose  waters  sweetened  on  his  lips  as  might 
have  done  the  kiss  of  an  angel.  In  the  beaming  eye  of 
his  much-loved  child  he  saw  the  bright  light  and  radiant 
joy  of  her  sainted  mother,  and  in  her  voice  heard  the 
sweet  echoes  that  floated  down  from  the  high  courts 
of  heaven  where  swelled  tlie  celestial  choir.  He 
loved  his  servants ;  they  were  his  father's  old  friends,  his 
own  playmates,  and  his  trusted  companions.  How  could 
there  be  aught  save  love,  mutual  trust  and  fatherly  pro- 
tection between  him  and  them?  Towards  them  kindness 
was  the  rule  and  guide  of  his  life,  and  protection  the 
duty  which,  as  the  days  rolled  by,  he  bowed  his  head  and 
fervently  prayed  for  strength  and  wisdom  to  enable  him 
to  know,  to  keep  and  perform. 

They  loved  him,  too.  From  the  full  fountain  of  their 
affectionate  natures  there  flowed  no  stinted  stream.  Their 
love  was  pure,  sincere,  and  sweet  as  the  heavenly  melody 
in  which  their  voicvis  mingled  to  sing  their  Maker's  praises. 
They  saw  in  him  their  best  friend  ;  the  instinct  of  their 
natures  told  them  he  was  their  guardian  and  their  pro- 
tector. By  precept  and  example  they  saw  that  he  taught 
them  the  true  lessons  of  Godliness  and  Christian  virtue. 
They  saw  and  they  heeded — they  heard  and  they  under- 
stood. They  knew  far  back  in  the  history  of  their  race 
their  ancestors  were  the  helpless  victims  of  ignorant  blind- 
ness— the  worshipers  of  reptiles;  the  eaters  of  human 
flesh ;  and  in  the  deep  sincerity  of  their  hearts  tlicy 
thanked  God  that  they  had  been  permitted  to  pass  under 
the  3'oke  of  servitude,  and  there  released  from  heathen 
blindness  and  pagan  idolatry,  and  given  to  behold  the 
light  of  Christian  hope. 

They  were  contented ;  they  sighed  not  for  the  flesh 
pots  of  their  native  Africa.    They  believed  not  in  the  caut 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  103 

and  echoless  song  of  slavery's  degradation.  They  had 
heard  the  oft-whispered  story  of  John  Brown's  martyr- 
dom ;  his  saint-hke  death  for  their  regeneration,  the 
shouts  and  songs  and  jubilees  of  the  genius  of  Universal 
Emancipation,  but  these  calls  awakened  no  echo  in  their 
hearts,  received  no  response  from  their  souls,  nor  disturbed 
the  sweet  serenity  of  their  joyful  spirits.  They  loved  old 
master  and  fairly  worshiped  sweet  Miss  Helen.  And 
they  had  no  faith  in  that  religion  which  taught  John 
Brown  it  was  a  Christian  duty  to  leave  his  home  in  the 
wild  w^est  and  come  down  here  in  ''old  Virginny, "  and  try 
to  kill  old  master,  burn  his  home,  confiscate  his  property, 
and  set  the  darky  free.  'Twas  a  new  religion  to  them ; 
a  very  new  kind  of  gospel ;  the  Bible  did  not  teach  it ; 
the  Apostles  did  not  preach  it,  though  they  lived  in  the 
midst  of  slaves.  And  so,  when  the  good  old  darkies 
knelt  and  prayed  for  old  master  and  dear  Miss  Helen,  the 
prayer  was  not  that  fires  of  destruction  might  be  kindled 
around  their  beds  while  they  slept  the  sweet  sleep  of  con- 
tentment and  security,  but  God  bless  dear  old  master! 
God  bless  sweet  Miss  Helen !  may  peace  and  joy  and 
health  and  hope  and  happiness  long  be  granted  unto 
them,  and  may  sickness  and  sorrow  and  sadness  and  pain 
and  death  be  far,  far  removed.  Every  voice  trembled  wdth 
the  word  amen;  every  breast  sent  forth  the  feeling  amen, 
and  every  heart  felt  the  deep,  sincere  amen  wdiich  rolled 
through  the  secret  chambers  of  these  loving  souls.  Greeley 
and  Lundy  and  Beecher  and  Phillips  and  Giddings  and 
Garrison  had  invoked  the  genius  of  eloquence,  vitupera- 
tion, enmity  and  bitterness  to  name  a  curse  that  w^ould 
curse  with  an  everlasting  curse  the  accursed  slave  holder ; 
but  the  slave  himself  responded  with  a  prayer,  asking  a 
blessing  and  beseeching  mercy,  goodness  and  guidance 
for  dear  old  masters  soul,  while  that  old  master,  in  all  the 
simplicity  of  hi»3  heaven-born  faith,  bowed  low  his  head 
and  prayed,  "Thy  will,  oh  I  Lord,  let  thy  will  be  done." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

HELEN  MOORE  was  the  true  type  of  that  style  of 
Southern  beauty  which  has  so  often  been  the  admi- 
ration of  the  Northern  beau  and  the  envy  of  tlie  North- 
ern belle.  It  would  be  impossible  to  describe  her — better 
attempt  to  paint  the  lily  or  burnish  again  the  glories  of 
the  summer  sky.  The  charm  of  her  person;  the  fascina- 
tion of  her  presence,  you  could  see  and  feel,  and  you  could 
know  that  your  own  heart  was  made  glad  in  the  contem- 
plation;  but  the  delicacy  and  perfection  of  her  features; 
the  sweetness  of  her  exj^ression ;  the  refinement  of  her 
manners;  the  lady-like  gentleness  of  bearing,  were  above 
words  to  tell.  We  can  name  some  of  her  attractions.  We 
can  speak  of  her  features,  but  there  our  power  ends.  In 
figure  she  was  tall — above  the  medium  height — spare,  but 
beautifully  formed;  delicate  hands  and  feet,  shapely  as 
the  sculptor's  model.  Her  hair  was  brown — dark  brown 
— profuse  in  quantity  and  glossy  in  the  richness  of  its 
color.  Her  complexion  was  as  the  soft  delicate  glow  of 
rij^ening  fruit,  clear,  bright,  with  that  waxen  translucent 
appearance  which  renders  the  effect  of  coloring  perfect. 
Her  teeth  were  brilliant  as  pearls,  even  and  regular,  and 
made  matchless  the  expression  of  her  shapely  mouth, 
wreathed  in  smiles ;  while  her  eyes  were  large,  bright  and 
brown,  full  of  light,  full  of  intellect  and  full  of  joy  and 
kindnegs.  Her  every  movement  M^as  graceful,  as  her 
every  action  was  free  from  affectation.  But  beautiful  as 
she  was,  her  beauty  was  not  her  chief  charm,  nor  the  half 
of  her  attraction.  It  was  tlie  simplicity  and  elegance  of 
her  manner,  the  sweetness  of  her  disposition,  the  radiance 
of  her  expression,  the  joy  of  her  laugh,  the  bewitching 
(104) 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  105 

fascination  of  her  smila,  and  the  glow  of  her  spirits,  that 
formed  the  halo  of  lifi^ht  that  circled  around  her.  It  was 
that  which  you  can  see  but  cannot  define ;  that  which 
you  feel  but  cannot  express.  On  her  brow  modesty's 
mark  was  seen  in  the  glowing  blush,  while  around  the 
corners  of  her  mouth  good  humor  and  the  fascination  of 
innocent  mischief  would  at  times  play  Peek-a-Bo. 

Then  again  when  her  mood  changed  to  serious  thouglit 
or  gentle  argument,  her  brilliant  intellectual  endowments 
would  shine  out  through  the  material  form  from  the 
divinity  of  soul  that  dwelt  within;  while  her  voice  w^ooed 
you  as  the  evening  zephyr,  or  wafted  your  spirit  far  away 
to  bright  realms  of  endless  joy  and  never-fading  bliss. 
She  seem  to  move  the  very  centre  of  light  and  love; 
around  her  the  atmosphere  was  made  pure  and  sweet 
from  mingling  with  her  breath.  She  was  no  star  to  be 
gazed  at  in  silent  admiration,  to  be  worshiped  afar  off  in 
the  cold  inaccessable  firmament  of  heaven ;  but  she  was 
one  of  us — a  human  being — to  love  and  be  loved,  who 
could  sympathize  with  us  in  our  sorrows  and  rejoice  with 
us  in  our  joy.  The  touch  of  her  hand  could  soothe  the 
brow  of  aching  pain.  While  her  smile  was  a  realm  of 
pure  light,  where  the  dark  shades  of  sorrow  could  not 
abide. 

Those  who  knew  her  best  loved  her  the  most,  and  in 
the  contemplation  of  her  character  caught  a  glimmering 
of  that  better  land  beyond  the  sky  where  God  reigns  in 
glory  and  the  spirit  is  at  rest. 

Such  was  Helen  Moore  when  we  saw  her  for  the  first 
time  in  the  twenty-first  year  of  her  age.  She  was  by  the 
side  of  Charles  Reed,  while  he  pointed  out  the  beauties 
of  the  surrounding  scenery. 

They  were  standing  on  a  gently-sloping  hill  near  Helen's 
home.  Charles  had  recovered  from  the  effects  of  his 
fall,  which  did  not  prove  to  be  very  serious,  though  he 
was  unconscious  for  some  hours,  and  while  there  was  lit- 


106  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

tie  that  Helen  could  do  during  these  hours  of  insensi- 
bility, she  attended  him  with  all  the  tenderness  that 
love  could  suggest  during  the  days  of  his  convalescence. 
She  bestowed  upon,  him  those  little  delicate  attentions — 
half  caresses,  which  a  loving  woman  can  give  and  man 
receive  as  a  solace  in  the  hour  of  painful  wounds.  This 
was  their  first  walk  since  the  mishap,  and  now  they  stood 
side  by  side,  their  hands  clasped  together,  but  falling 
carelessly  between  them.  Helen  was  particularly  bright 
and  cheerful;  she  rejoiced  in  the  thought  that  her  lover 
had  been  given  back  to  her  in  health  and  strength,  and 
her  heart  was  overflowing  with  gratitude. 

Just  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  in  front  of  them  rolled  the 
bright  clear  waters  of  the  noble  James,  while  behind 
them,  toward  the  west,  rose  up  dark  and  high  the  tower- 
ing heights  of  the  Blue  Kidge  mountains.  Helen,  like 
Charles,  loved  beautiful  scenery.  The  mountains  and  the 
hills  seem  in  some  way  associated  with  all  the  pleasant 
reminiscences  of  their  lives,  while  the  beautiful  James 
had  ever  been  as  a  companion  whose  murmuring  waters 
possessed  a  voice  that  could  woo  them  away  from  sadness. 
Charles  had  been  speaking  of  the  j:)icturesque  appearance 
of  the  woods  on  the  hill  to  their  left,  and  commenting 
upon  the  beauty  and  variety  displayed  in  the  mingling 
and  blending  autumn  leaves.  Then  he  turned  and  gazed 
in  silence  upon  the  flowing  river,  for  quite  a  little 
while,  and  then  he  spoke,  more  after  the  manner  of 
an  apostrophe,  than  to  Helen,  and  said:  "Roll  on,  thou 
bright  blue  waters,  roll,  and  bear  thy  tribute  to  the  sea," 
and  then  looking  at  Helen,  continued.  "  How  like  to  a  river 
is  this  life  of  ours,  on  and  on,  and  on  it  rolls;  it  never 
stops,  it  never  turns  back,  it  never  undoes  what  it  once 
has  done,  but  on  its  bosom  bears  the  good  and  the  bad 
together  to  the  great  ocean — the  ocean  of  eternity!  The 
ocean  gave  these  waters  to  these  hills,  and  now  these  hills 
must  give  back  these  waters  to  the  ocean  again.     And 


Yankee  dooule  dixie.  107 

see,"  he  said,  as  he  pointed  to  a  dark  object  floating  down 
the  stream,  "it  hears  as  a  tribute  to  the  sea  tlie  roots  and 
rubbish  it  has  gathered  up  on  its  way,  and  just  so  we  too 
must  bear  back  to  God  the  spirit  Pie  gave  us,  and  with 
it  we  must  carry  for  weal  or  for  w^oe  the  deeds  done  in 
the  body."  He  ceased  speaking,  but  continued  to  gaze  at 
the  dark  object  floating  down  tlie  river,  while  his  counte- 
nance changed  to  deeper  thought  and  silent  meditation. 
Helen  drew  nearer  to  his  side,  took  his  hand  in  both  of 
hers,  and  looking  up  into  his  face,  said: 

"But  we,  unlike  yon  river,  bear  our  burdens  to  a 
throne  of  mercy." 

"True,  Helen,  that  is  true,"  he  replied;  "and  that 
thought — that  sweet  assurance — is  the  comfort  of  this 
hfe." 

He  raised  her  hand  to  his  lips  and  expressed  his  thanks 
for  the  comfort  her  suggestion  afforded,  and  as  he  did  so 
their  eyes  met.  A  beaming  smile  like  the  ripple  of  the 
ocean  dancing  in  the  sunlight  broke  over  Helen's  face, 
and  the  heart  of  each  was  filled  wdth  the  light  of  hope 
and  the  sweet  assurance  of  joys  secured  on  earth  and 
crowns  laid  up  in  heaven. 

They  turned  from  the  river  and  started  slowly  to 
retrace  their  steps  for  home.  As  they  did  so,  their  faces 
were  towards  the  mountain.  The  view  was  most  com- 
manding from  the  elevated  plateau  along  which  they 
were  w^alking.  The  varied  scenery  of  hill,  mountain, 
and  vale,  here  and  there  covered  with  heavy  forest  trees, 
whose  leaves  presented  a  thousand  tints  of  autumn's  col- 
oring, which,  sparkling  in  the  mellow  light  of  the  declin- 
ing sun,  made  the  scene  more  lovely  than  a  panoramic 
picture.  The  sun  was  low  in  the  horizon,  just  above  the 
mountain  tops,  and  seemed  to  linger  as  though  loth  to 
leave  the  beautiful  hills  to  be  wrapped  in  shades  and 
darknpss;  back  over  the  landscape  he  flung  his  parting 
rays,  his  evening  touch,  his  good-night  kiss,  and  in  his 


103  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

parting  moments  played  the  alchemist,  and  turned  the 
rolling  hills  to  heaps  of  shining  gold. 

Helen  and  Charles  paused  and  gazed  in  rapt  delight 
upon  the  glowing  scene  until  the  last  rays  of  the  golden 
light  faded  from  the  hills. 

"Oil!"  exclaimed  Charles,  "what  beauty,  what  gran- 
deur there;  w^hat  light,  what  glorious  coloring  is  yonder 
pictured  on  that  sky.  See  it  seems  to  change  even  now 
from  bright  to  brighter  hues.  I  can  imagine  that  just 
such  light  as  that  would  flash  from  the  wdngs  of  some 
radiant  angel,  who  had  thrown  aside  his  shining  robes  as 
he  flew  onward  and  upward,  leaving  his  smile  upon  the 
golden  gates  of  Hesperus,  as  he  passed  a  joyful  messen- 
ger from  earth  to  heaven  bearing  the  glad  tidings  of  some 
sinner  saved — some  spirit  made  perfect  through  faith — 
grandest  and  most  glorious  in  death,"  cried  Charles,  his 
breast  heaving  with  emotion.  "Oh!  that  my  last  hour, 
my  leave  of  time  may  be  like  that  of  yon  dying  sun. 
He  was  beautifully  bright  during  the  day,  but  oh !  how 
grand — how  glorious  in  death.  If  I  may  but  die  thus, 
the  last  w^ords  my  faltering  tongue  shall  utter  will  be,  Ohl 
death,  where  is  thy  sting;  Oh!  grave  where  is  thy  vic- 
tory." 

He  stood  and  continued  to  gaze  in  rapt  silence  for  a 
moment.  Then,  feeling  the  hand  of  Helen  tremble  on 
his  arm,  he  turned  and  looked  at  her.  Tears  had  gath- 
ered in  her  eyes,  and  w^re  now  stealing  dow^i  her  cheek. 
He  knew  the  one  word  which  he  had  spoken  which  had 
touched  her  heart  like  a  finger  of  ice,  and  brought  these 
tears  to  her  eyes — death — cold,  cold  death ;  for  only  yes- 
terday, as  it  were,  she  had  seen  him  brought  home  a  heap 
of  lifeless  clayo  Now  when  bespoke  of  death, she  seemed 
to  see  him  with  the  death- wound  on  his  brow.  She  knew 
he  was  by  her  side ;  she  knew  that  he  was  given  back  to 
her  again ;  she  knew  that  the  bloom  cf  health  was  still 
upon  his  cheek ;  yet  when  he  spoke  of  death  the  tide  of 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DlXIfe.  109 

feeling  flowed  back  with  such  painful  force  to  the  hour 
when  she  saw  him  borne  to  her  home  wounded,  bleeding, 
insensible,  and,  as  she  thought,  dead  to  all  the  world,  and 
lost  to  her  forever.  The  agony  of  that  hour  we  pass  over 
in  silence,  because  no  pen  could  describe  the  anguish  of 
heart  and  soul  that  she  then  suffered.  The  hurt  yielded 
to  medical  skill,  and  after  a  time  the  patient  returned  to 
consciousness.  But  the  agony — the  terrible  agony — the 
dreadful  anguish — lingered  like  the  remembrance  of  a 
frightful  dream. 

Helen  had  learned  to  love  Charles,  even  in  her  child- 
hood. She  could  not,  had  she  tried,  trace  their  love  back 
to  its  origin.  Among  the  first  and  earliest  pleasing  recol- 
lections of  her  life  were  the  joy  of  his  companionship. 
They  had  played  together  in  childhood,  joined  hands  iu 
youthful  pursuits,  mingled  their  affections  in  the  same 
stream,  and  suffered  it  to  crystalize  in  the  same  fountain. 
He  was  the  master  architect  who  built  for  her  such  fine 
frog-houses  in  the  sand,  and  she  was  the  little  lady  cook 
that  baked  for  him  such  nice  mud-pies.  He  was  the 
good  doctor  who  came  galloping  on  his  big  stick  horse  to 
see  her  poor  little  dolly  that  was  so  sick  with  the  croup. 
And  she  was  the  tender-hearted  little  mother  who  admin- 
istered to  dear,  sick  baby  his  bread  pills  and  quinine  flour. 

Those  were  the  happy  days  of  make-believe.  And  all 
the  sunshine  of  prosperity,  all  the  glory  of  successful 
endeavor,  and  all  the  reward  of  splendid  achievement,  can- 
not bring  to  the  heart  the  light  and  joy,  the  peace  and  pure 
contentment  of  those  happy  days  of  childhood — "make- 
believe."  Then  purity  and  innocence  crown  the  young 
life  with  unadulterated  joys,  and  contentment  wreathes  her 
lovely  wreath  around  the  brow,  while  pure,  spotless  souls 
and  uncontaminated  spirits  shine  out  through  the  material 
form  from  the  heaven-born  light  that  glows  within. 

As  companions  they  played  "  company  come" — "  hide 
and  seek" — "  puss  in  the  corner,"  and  "  lady  house-keep- 


110  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

er,"  until  the  flowers  of  childhood  budded  into  maiden 
life  and  youthful  aspiration;  and  then  on,  down  the 
stream  of  time  which  flowed  witliout  a  jar  and  without  a 
ripple,  their  little  boat  is  wafted  until  the  sea  of  summer  life 
is  reached,  where  the  maiden  bud  and  youthful  flower  burst 
into  the  glory  of  full-blown  perfection,  and  the  fruits  of 
those  flowers  were  the  perfect  trust,  the  perfect  confidence, 
the  perfect  love  that  germinated  in  childhood  and  ripened 
in  the  summer  of  mature  life. 

Helen  looked  upon  her  companion  as  the  very  embodi- 
ment of  all  that  was  noble,  generous,  true,  and  manly, 
while  he  regarded  her  as  the  emblem  of  purity,  refine- 
ment and  virtue. 

She  had  never  seen  him  sick;  she  had  never  heard  him 
groan  with  pain;  she  had  never  known  him  to  be  weak 
from  wounds  before.  True,  once  long  ago,  she  had  seen 
him  smile  with  a  crushed  arm,  on  the  occasion  when  he 
threw  himself  in  the  path  of  the  liuge  rock  that  rolled 
from  its  place  on  the  hill,  wdiich  would  have  struck  and 
perhaps  crushed  her  to  death  but  for  his  timely  interpo- 
sition. But  why  should  he  have  not  smiled  at  such  a 
time?  What  was  a  bruised  arm,  or  even  a  broken  limb, 
to  him  compared  to  the  preservation  of  Helen's  life  and 
the  boon  of  Helen's  love  ? 

But  on  that  dreadful  afternoon  when  she  saw  him  with 
the  blood  on  his  brow,  his  arms  fall  limp  and  lifeless  at 
his  side,  and  the  pale  ashen  hue  of  death  on  his  cheek; 
when  his  eyes  W'Ould  not  open  to  her  call,  when  his  lips 
would  not  smile  at  her  tender  caress,  she  seemed  to  have 
realized  for  the  first  time  that  he  was  mortal  and  could 
die — die  and  be  taken  from  her  forever — die  and  be  laid 
in  the  cold  and  silent  grave — die  and  leave  her  in  sorrow, 
in  anguish,  and  in  despair.  And  so  when  he  spoke  of 
death  the  recollections  of  that  dreadful  hour  rolled  back 
upon  her  like  a  returning  wave,  and  filled  her  heart  with 
sickening  sorrow. 


VANEEE   DOODLEJ   i)lXlE.  Ill 

Helen  Moore  was  not  superstitious;  she  did  not  believe 
in  presentiments;  she  could  not  be  culled  timid,  nor  said 
to  be  of  a  nervous  temperament;  but  slie  was  a  woman, 
and  could  love — and  loving  felt  the  dee})est  solicitude  for 
the  safety  and  welfare  of  the  object  of  her  affections. 
The  hurt  which  Charles  had  received  and  the  circum- 
stances attending  thereto  made  such  a  vivid  impression 
on  her  mind,  more  than  once  slie  had  seen  him  in  her 
dreams  lying  bleeding  and  wounded,  and  sometimes  even 
when  awake  she  could  not  dispel  the  dreadful  vision. 

Philosophers,  theologians,  and  psychologists,  metaphy- 
sicians and  charlatans  have  for  ages  past,  and  no  doubt 
will  for  ages  to  come,  argue  and  dispute,  debate  and 
wrangle  over  the  question  of  visionary  phenomenn- 
They  all  admit  the  facts,  confess  the  premises,  but  dispute 
over  the  conclusion.  Some  call  it  spritual  manifestation, 
some  call  it  second  sight;  some  mediumistic  revelations, 
and  some  remarkable  coincidences.  These  attribute  the 
faith  of  those  to  ignorance  and  superstition,  while  those 
attribute  the  disbelief  of  these  to  prejudice  and  contuma- 
cious self-conceit.  The  one  in  support  of  the  faith,  which 
is  firmly  fixed  in  the  mind  as  the  stars  in  the  heavens, 
conscientiously  recite  well-established  facts — unquestion- 
able incidences  and  indisputable  evidences.  You  may 
call  them  feverish  dreams,  optical  illusions,  or  say  that 
they  are  the  result  of  vague,  weak,  fleeting  phantasma- 
goria, still  the  mental  phenomena  is  just  the  sam^e. 
Friends  have  seen  friends  that  were  known  to  be  far 
away  at  the  moment  of  the  fearful  peril,  or  in  the  very 
agonies  of  death.  So,  too,  the  veil  of  futurity  has  been 
swept  aside,  and  scenes  yet  to  be  enacted  in  days  or 
months  or  years  to  come  have  been  revealed  in  the  pleas- 
ing dreams  of  refreshing  sleep,  or  in  the  frightful  tortures 
of  the  nightmare.  The  theory  of  remarkable  coincidence 
may  account  to  some  minds  as  a  satisfactory  solution  of 
these  most  extraordinary  mental  phenomena,  but  this 


112  YANKEE    t)OODLE    DIXIE. 

still  leaves  the  question  open  and  undecided,  for  nothing 
is  proved. 

What  relation  the  mind  has  to  the  material  body — the 
soul  to  the  mind — the  spirit  to  the  soul,  and  time  and 
place  to  the  spirit,  are  questions  too  deep  to  be  fathomed 
by  the  finite  mind. 

'Tis  said  the  artist  can  look  upon  the  blank  surface  of 
the  canvas  and  there  see  the  matchless  beauty  of  the 
Madonna,  even  as  Pygmalion  is  said  to  have  looked  upon 
the  rough  uncut  marble  and  saw  the  bewitching  face  and 
splendid  form  of  his  future  bride.  "Mental  creations," 
these  cry  "formed  and  fashioned  by  purpose,  or  design"; 
"spiritual  creations,"  these  reply  "revealed  by  love — 
called  up  by  genius."  The  argument  proves  nothing, 
but  the  disputants  wax  warm  in  mutual  contempt.  And 
each  one  leaves  the  arena  with  less  of  wisdom  and  less 
of  patience.  So  spread  out  the  canvas  to  the  full  extent 
of  our  mental  vision,  and  with  one  wide  sweep  embrace  the 
whole  circle  in  the  arms  of  charity,  and  we  find  our- 
selves still  standing  upon  the  rock  of  admitted  facts  with 
the  waves  of  an  unknown  sea  breaking  around  us.  And 
so,  whether  we  believe  in  mystic  revelations — disentombed 
spirits — dream-like  presentiments,  or  float  over  the  trou- 
bled waters  in  a  bark  built  of  absolute  skejDticism,  there 
are  some  truths  we  cannot  deny.  We  cannot  deny  that 
there  are  times  when  a  feeling  of  fear  will  come  over  us, 
and  a  vague,  uncertain,  inexplicable  dread  take  posses- 
sion of  us.  We  feel  the  danger  approaching,  even  afar 
off,  and  the  cords  of  agonizing  suspense  tightening  around 
our  hearts,  and  "we  cannot  shake  the  dread  of  danger 
from  our  limbs,  nor  roll  back  the  shadows  that  gather 
around  us.  We  feel  that  some  unseen  hand  has  winged 
an  arrow  barbed  with  sin  or  sickness,  pain  or  sorrow,  and 
shot  it  forth  with  unerring  aim  soon  to  quiver  in  our 
hearts.  And  at  such  times  human  courage  is  impotent 
to  resist  the  fear,  and  human  reason  becomes  as  baseless 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  113 

for  hope  as  the  shifting  sliadows  of  the  mountain  mist. 
Helen  Moore  was  no  philosopher,  though  intelligent  in 
the  highest  degree.  She  had  read  much  and  studied 
profitahlj^jbut  the  subtleties  of  metaphysics  had  no  charms 
for  her,  and  spiritualism  and  mesmerism  as  embodied  and 
promulgated  in  the  so-called  speculative  philosophy  were 
to  her  the  doctrines  of  sacrilege  and  impious  curiosity. 
But  she  was  human.  She  had  long  known  that  she  could 
love,  and  now  of  late  she  had  learned  that  she  could  fear. 
Her  mother  had  died  long  years  before,  when  Helen  was 
quite  an  infant,  at  a  period  too  early  in  the  life  of  the 
child  to  leave  any  painful  recollections  upon  her  mind. 
So  until  that  moment  of  dreadful  anguish  when  she  saw 
tlie  one  whom  she  loved  with  all  the  sincerity  other  nature 
dead,  as  she  thought,  she  had  never  experienced  one  mo- 
ment of  real  fear — real  anguish — real  sorrow.  She  had 
looked  upon  death  for  those  she  loved  as  a  thing  afar  off, 
and  even  then  not  to  be  dreaded,  but  as  the  entrance  into 
a  higher,  holier,  and  better  life.  But  when  she  thought 
it  had  come,  and  that,  too,  to  take  the  one  she  loved  the 
most  of  all  the  world,  the  blow  fell  and  crushed  her  like 
a  rock  upon  a  rose-leaf,  and  left  a  bruise  that  would  not 
heal.  The  hurt  followed  her  to  her  sleep  and  disturbed 
her  in  her  slumbers.  More  than  once  she  had  seen  him 
in  her  dreams  stretched  upon  the  ground  bleeding  and 
lifeless.  Nor  was  the  scene  always  the  same.  Some- 
times she  saw  him  just  as  she  saw  him  that  afternoon 
when  he  was  brought  to  her  home  surrounded  by  friends — • 
only  one  of  those  friends  seemed  to  have  two  faces,  two 
voices,  and  two  hearts,  and  that  strange  face  with  the 
double  life  seemed  to  be  in  part  superhuman.  He  pos- 
sessed the  power  to  heal  and  the  power  to  wound — the 
power  to  attract  and  the  power  to  repel.  One  of  those 
faces  was  beautiful,  the  other  frightful ;  one  full  of  noble 
candor  and  open  manliness,  the  other  rigid  with  enmity, 
selfishness,  and  fiendish  hate.  And  likewise  the  two 
8 


114  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

voices  of  the  strange  friend  differed  the  same  as  the  two 
faces — one  was  soft,  sweet,  gentle,  and  full  of  melody,  the 
other  harsh  and  painfully  discordant.  And  his  two  hearts 
were  more  unlike  than  his  two  faces.  One  was  full  of 
love,  tenderness,  and  sympathy;  the  other  the  incarna- 
tion of  corruption — the  embodiment  of  vile  deceit — a 
cesspool  of  filthy  falsehood. 

Then,  again,  she  saw  her  lover  far  away  in  some  strange 
place,  lying  as  before,  wounded,  bleeding,  lifeless.  The 
same  strange  friend  was  there,  but  with  him  many,  very 
many,  others,  and  there  seemed  to  be  great  excitement — 
men  rushing  here  and  there:  horses  without  riders  speed- 
ing over  the  plain,  and  there  was  a  terrible  smoke  like  to 
a  dark  cloud,  and  lightnings  flashed  and  blazed,  and  deep 
thunders  rolled  and  echoed  along  the  sky  and  seemed  to 
shake  the  hills  in  their  foundations;  and  mingling  with 
the  deep  roll  of  the  thunders  came  the  wild  shouts  of 
men  and  the  sharp  cry  of  pain;  and  some  of  those  who 
stood  around  gathered  there  had  their  faces  bathed  in 
tears;  some  seemed  all  excitement  and  joyfully  exultant, 
while  some  were  rushing  to  and  fro  with  shining  guns  or 
flashing  sabres  in  their  hands. 

Helen  could  not  understand  what  it  all  meant,  so 
full  of  incongruity  was  the  scene.  But  she  felt  a  sick- 
ening fear  at  her  heart  and  a  cold  chill  creep  over  her 
limbs,  and  the  same  dreadful  agony  which  crushed  her 
life  when  she  first  saw  her  wounded  lover  lying  pale, 
limp  and  lifeless.  In  vain  did  she  tell  herself  in  her 
wakeful  moments  that  it  was  all  a  dream — a  foolish 
dream — and  that  it  would  be  an  unpardonable  weakness 
to  yield  even  to  one  moment  of  fear,  or  entertain  the 
thought  that  it  was  a  real  presentiment  to  be  followed  by 
reality.  And  what  would  be  still  more  unpardonable,  to 
think  of  that  strange  friend  with  the  double  life,  and 
imagine  that  she  could  trace  some  resemblance  to  the 
handsome  face  of  William  Dodge,  who  had  been  and  still 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  115 

was  SO  dear  to  Charles.  She  would  say  "such  a  thought 
is  unworthy  of  me,  unchristian  like,  uncharitable  in  the 
extreme,  and  must  not  be  thought  of  again."  Still, 
resolve  as  she  might  resolve,  the  vision  had  its  effect,  and 
Helen,  despite  her  best  endeavors,  felt  at  times  nervous 
and  depressed. 

She  had  never  spoken  to  Charles  on  the  subject.  How 
could  she.  The  secret,  if  it  could  be  called  a  secret,. was 
the  first  and  only  one  she  had  ever  kept  from  him.  How 
could  she  confess  such  weakness  to  him  in  whose  eyes  she 
wanted  to  be  everything  that  was  noble,  true,  good  and 
strong.  He  would  laugh  at  such  folly,  if  only  to  frighten 
away  the  blues  from  her — and  a  laugh  to  the  tender,  sen- 
sitive heart  of  love  is  next  to,  if  not  worse  than,  a  scolding. 
So  she  tried  to  laugh  at  herself,  and  determined  to  dream 
no  more  such  wicked  dreams  if  she  could  help  it;  and  if 
she  could  not,  she  resolved  to  bear  it  as  a  merited  pun- 
ishment for  such  folly.  But  it  is  easier  far  to  make  reso- 
lutions than  it  is  to  keep  them,  and  so  Helen  found  it. 
Old  sensitive  sores  will  sometimes  hurt  despite  our  every 
precaution, and  so  it  was  that  Helen  found  it  as  she  stood  by 
her  lover's  side  that  afternoon  and  heard  him  speak  of 
death. 

Charles  could  not  understand  why  his  words  should 
have  affected  Helen  so  deeply  as  to  move  her  to  tears. 
He  felt  mystified  for  a  moment,  but  his  love  for  her  was 
too  strong  to  leave  him  silent.  So  he  took  both  her  hands 
in  his  and  said,  "Come,  precious,  no  tears  now;  I  am  not 
worth  one  of  those  jewels  I  see  sparkling  on  your  cheek, 
and  besides/'  he  continued,  smiling  a  rather  mischievous 
smile,  "I  have  too  much  to  live  for,  just  now,  to  think  of 
dying.  Three  months  from  to-day — you  promised  it  this 
morning — ^^just  three  months  from  this  very  day — . 
Blushes  now;  a  smile — a  little  shower  and  then  the  sun- 
shine and  beauty  is  more  beautiful  still." 

"Hush,  you  flatterer;  I  am  half  in  mind  to  say  three 
years  instead  of  three  months." 


IIB  VAXKEE    DOODLE    DT^CTE. 

"  Just  to  be  unkind  for  once  in  your  life  ?  " 

"You  flatter  yourself,  Mr.  Consistency.  Why  should 
I  be  in  a  hurry  to  wed  one  who  says  of  himself  he  is  not 
worth  so  much  as  a  foolish  tear?" 

And  she  looked  at  him  with  a  smile,  while  Peek-a-Bo 
played  at  the  corners  of  her  mouth  as  much  as  to  say : 
"  Now,  Mr.  Pleader,  what  is  your  reply  to  that  ?" 

He  looked  at  her  in  silence,  his  face  all  beaming  with 
smiles,  Mhile  his  eyes  expressed  the  admiration  which  his 
heart  felt.  Then  he  carried  both  of  her  hands  to  his 
lips  and  kissed  the  tips  of  her  fingers,  but  he  said  noth- 
ing. She  continued  to  look  at  him,  her  face  wreathed  in 
the  same  mischievous  smile,  and  asked: 

"Does  3'our  law  books  furnish  j^ou  with   a  rejoinder?" 

"  No,"  he  said,  shaking  his  head  ;  "but  it  does  furnish 
me  with  a  knowledge  of  what  is  the  proper  thing  to  do." 

"Well,"  she  said,  still  smiling,  "the  proper  thing  is 
the  right  thing,  and  the  right  thing  should  prevail.  I 
will  help  you  that  much.  The  court  will  hear  you,  Mr. 
Consistency.     AVhat  have  you  to  say?" 

Charles  looked  serious  for  a  moment,  and  then  said : 
"Submit  to  judgment  and  plead  for  mercy,"  and  he  bent 
his  head  in  well-feigned  humility. 

"The  court  hears  j^our  prayer,  and  will  consider  the 
same,"  said  Helen,  assuming  a  mock  dignity ;  "  and  inas- 
much as  you  have  plead  guilty  and  thrown  yourself  upon 
the  mercy  of  the  court,  the  full  penalty  of  the  law  ought 
not  to  be  imposed,  which,  as  you  know,  is  imprisonment 
and  hard  labor,  or  perpetual  banishment  from  our  realms. 
So,  therefore,  in  tender  consideration  of  your  prayer,  it  is 
considered  and  ordered  by  the  court  that  you,  Charles 
Reed, be  allowed  ninety  days  from  this  day  that  you  may 
suitable  arrangements  make  of  your  bachelor  affairs ;  and 
that  at  the  expiration  of  said  ninety  days  you  be  taken 
by  such  person  or  persons  as  the  court  may  appoint  to 
the  home  of  one  Helen  Moore,  and  then  and  there,  be- 


VAXKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  117 

tween  the  hours  of  six  and  eight  in  the  afternoon,  be 
bound  in  golden  chains  or  silken  meshes  in  the  royal  ser- 
vice of  the  said  Helen  Moore  for  and  during  the  term  of 
your  natural  life." 

"Amen!  amen!"  cried  Charles,  and  they  both  broke 
into  a  merry  laugh. 

It  was  then  ordered  that  the  court  stanp  adjourned,  and 
the  lovers  started  for  the  Grove. 

The  home  ot  Colonel  J^Ioore,  known  as  the  Grove,  was 
a  large,  old-fashioned  brick  house,  built  something  ncr.r 
a  century  ago,  when  heavy  architecture  was  the  prevail- 
ing idea.  There  were  long,  large  columns  of  brick  in 
front,  supporting  a  high,  upper  porch.  The  halls  were 
unusually  wide,  and  the  ceiling  high,  as  compared  with 
the  present  style.  The  building  was  two  stories.  The 
rooms,  ten  in  all,  were  large  and  commodious,  and  were 
furnished  in  a  manner  more  properly  described  as  splen- 
did than  elegant.  Almost  the  entire  furniture  bore  the 
marks  of  anti-Revolutionary  taste  and  English  manufac- 
ture. Ashby  Moore,  the  great-grandfather  of  Beverly 
Moore,  had  fitted  up  his  American  home  according  to  his 
English  pride,  and  Beverly  Moore  entertained  too  much 
reverence  for  the  memory  of  his  ancestors  to  feel  a  wish 
or  entertain  a  thought  of  displacing  the  dear  old  heir- 
looms which  had  descended  to  him  with  the  landed  estate. 

He  left  those  things  just  as  he  found  them,  and  exer- 
cised scrupulous  care  to  preserve  them  free  from  decay  or 
abuse.  Grandfather's  chair,  and  grandfather's  clock,  and 
grandfather's  bed,  were  good  enough  for  Beverly  Moore; 
and  the  old-fashioned,  heavy-made  mahogany  wardrobes, 
high-back  sofas  and  half-round  tables  had  a  home-like 
appearance,  and  stood  around  with  a  dignified,  aristo- 
cratic air;  while  the  silver  service  and  hand-painted 
china  were  the  same  his  great-grandfather  had  set  with 
pride  before  George  III.  in  merry  old  England,  and  now 
seemed  sufficiently  elegant  to  satisfy  the  taste  of  a  plain 


118  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

Virginia  country  gentleman.  And  Helen  ^loore  felt  far 
more  delight  in  seeing  her  father  pleased  than  she  would 
have  been  had  all  the  elegance  of  the  new  style,  both  in 
plate  and  furniture,  been  allowed  to  usurp  the  places  of 
those  dear  old  heirlooms. 

The  house  stood  in  the  midst  of  a  large  grove  of  ven- 
erable old  oaks,  from  which  the  estate  took  its  name. 
They  lifted  their  heads  high  in  the  air,  waved  their 
branches  as  though  proud  of  their  position,  ready  to  stand 
bravely  up  to  the  storms  that  were  to  come  as  they  had 
done  the  blasts  of  the  past. 

To  the  right,  and  some  little  distance  back,  was  a  neat 
row  of  negro  cabins,  sixteen  in  all,  each  one  being  the 
home  of  a  family  of  colored  j^eople — all  slaves — all  bound 
to  servitude,  but  all  happy  and  contented.  Just  in  front 
of  the  row  of  cabins  was  a  doubte  row  of  locust  trees, 
while  to  the  rear  of  each  house  was  an  acre  or  more  of 
garden  ground,  in  some  of  which  rose-bushes  and  big  sun- 
flowers mingled  with  the  vegetable  production,  contrasting 
j^leasingly  with  the  white-washed  cabins,  and  presenting  all 
together  a  most  comfortable  and  picturesque  appearance. 

To  the  left  of  the  grove  there  was  a  large  orchard  of  most 
choice  fruit,  just  now  ripe  for  the  gathering,  and  just 
below  this  the  majestic  James  rolled  peacefully  along, 
lending  his  bright,  sparkling  waters  to  complete  the  pic- 
ture, and  make  beautiful  and  attractive  this  happy,  hospi- 
table home. 

When  Charles  and  Helen  reached  the  house  they  found 
Kr.  Dodgoand  Colonel  Moore  sitting  on  the  porch  in  earnest 
conversation.  Tlie  face  of  Colonel  Moore  was  calm  and 
thoughtful,  expressive  of  serious  reflection,  like  one  who 
has  listened  to  an  eloquent  discourse  advocating  -views 
not  wdiolly  understood,  nor  altogether  acquiesced  in,  or 
approved,  but  which  the  listener  feels  unable  to  dispute, 
and  unprepared  to  contradict  and  refute,  wliile  the  flushed 
face  of  Mr.  Dodge  showed  the  excitement  of  animated 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  119 

discussion.  It  has  been  before  remarked  that  Mr.  Dodge 
was  a  most  brilliant  conversationalist.  There  was  about 
him  a  charm  of  manner  that  it  was  impossible  to  resist. 
His  voice  was  remarkably  sweet,  clear  as  a  crystal,  full  of 
melody,  and  when  he  wished  to  make  it  so,  deeply  im- 
pressive. His  enunciation  was  perfect,  his  gestures  easy 
and  graceful,  and  his  vocabulary  abundant,  all  of  which 
added  to  the  power  of  happy  illustration,  fine  figure  and 
handsome  face  enabled  him  to  captivate  the  mind  and 
fascinate  the  heart,  and  that  seemingly  without  an  effort, 
and  without  design  and  seemingly  unconscious  of  the 
effect  produced. 

The  play  of  his  imagination  was  like  the  flash  of  a 
diamond.  His  wit  sparkled  like  phosphorescent  light  in 
rippling  waves,  and  his  eloquence  was  couched  in  such 
subtle  logic  that  it  was  impossible  to  contradict,  though 
your  mind  might  not  assent.  The  fascination  of  the 
man,  the  mesmeric  influence  which  he  exerted,  the 
attraction  and  charm  of  his  conversation,  seem  to  lie  in 
the  fact  that  there  was  no  special  effort  to  please,  no  con- 
quest desired,  no  victory  sought,  no  object  to  be  gained, 
no  self-laudation,  no  self-aggrandizement.  It  seemed  as 
natural  for  him  to  be  bright  and  interesting  and  unaf- 
fected as  it  was  for  the  stars  to  shine,  and  in  this  seeming 
self-forgetfulness  and  utter  abnegation  lay  hid  the  power 
that  attracted  you  and  the  principle  which  bound  you. 

The  Colonel  and  Mr.  Dodge  arose  as  Helen  and  Charles 
entered  the  porch.  "  I  see,"  said  Charles,  addressing 
Colonel  Moore, "  you  have  been  subjecting  yourself  to  the 
delightful  fascination  of  my  friend  Dodge.  What  pray 
has  been  the  subject-matter  of  his  bewitching  conversa- 
tion this  afternoon?"  But  before  Colonel  Moore  could 
reply,  who  did  not  appear  in  a  hurry  to  do  so,  Mr.  Dodge 
spoke  and  said : 

"Come,  no  flattery,  friend  Reed;  leave  the  graceful 
turn  of  compliment  for  those  whose  real  merit  can  approve 


120  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

it,"  ana  he  turned  his  eyes  to  Helen  with  the  most  pro- 
found respect. 

Helen  bowed  her  head,  in  silent  acknowledgment  of 
the  implied  compliment,  but  inwardly  wished  she  had 
escaped  the  courtesy.  The  party  continued  standing,  and 
Mr.  Dodge  speaking  rather  as  a  reply  to  Charles's  question 
to  Colonel  Moore,  said,  "  I  have  been  giving  the  Colonel 
some  account  of  our  college  life;  I  told  him  what  a  good 
student  you  were  and  how  gracefully  and  triumphantly 
you  bore  off  the  honors  at  the  final  celebrations.  But  I 
also  had  to  tell,  in  order  to  paint  the  picture  more  to  life, 
of  some  of  the  mischief  and  pranks  into  which  we  less 
studious  boys  led  you."  And  here  Mr.  Dodge  again 
recited  for  the  benefit  of  Miss  Helen  some  of  the  anecdotes 
he  had  been  telling  Colonel  Moore,  to  which  he  added 
some  others,  all  of  which  he  told  in  such  inimitable  style 
and  ludicrous  manner,  the  whole  party  was  convulsed 
with  laughter.  In  the  midst  of  which  Colonel  Moore 
took  occasion  to  slip  awa}'',  rather  glad  that  he  was  thus 
relieved  from  answering  Charles's  question,  which,  to  speak- 
truly,  was  rather  an  embarrassing  one,  for  at  the  moment 
the  question  was  asked  he  was  not  thinking  of  the  anec- 
dotes that  Dodge  had  told  him  earlier  in  the  evening, 
but  of  what  Dodge  was  s'aying  just  before  Charles  and 
Helen  came  in. 

When  Colonel  Moore  reached  his  sitting-room  he 
closed  the  door  behind  him,  stirred  the  warm  embers 
on  the  hearth,  and  then  sat  down  to  think.  For  the 
first  time  in  his  life  he  felt  his  pride  wounded  by  self- 
accusation.  He  had  allowed  himself  to  listen  to  a  dis- 
sertation which  he  could  not  approve.  He  was  mystified 
and  to  some  extent  felt  subdued.  He  felt  humiliated  and 
over-powered.  His  mind  told  him  there  was  some  error, 
some  design,  some  fallacy.  His  heartfelt  it  so,  but  his 
intellect  could  not  grasp  the  full  truth  and  tear  away  the 
vail  of  deception.  He  could  not  refute,  but  he  would  not 
give  credence  to  the  folly  of  spiritualism. 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  121 

Colonel  Moore  had  passed  the  prime  of  life ;  he  was 
on  the  shady  slope,  gently  gliding  on  down  towards  his 
"  three-score  years  and  ten."  In  early  life  he  was  a  soldier 
and  won  his  epaulets  on  the  frontier  in  the  wars  against 
the  hostile  Indians.  But  he  soon  tired  of  a  soldier's  life 
and  returned  from  the  army  to  enjoy  the  quiet  and  peace 
of  his  elegant  home  and  the  society  of  his  wife.  He  had 
married,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  the  beautiful  and 
accomplished  daughter  of  Berkley  Page,  of  Albemarle, 
whose  delightful  home  was  in  sight  of  the  classic  shades 
of  the  University  of  Virginia.  Mr.  Page  was  a  finished 
scholar,  brilliant,  successful  lawyer,  and  shrewd  politician. 
He  had  represented  his  district  several  times  in  Congress 
with  distinguished  ability,  and  had  gained  quite  a  repu- 
tation as  a  ready  debator.  But  his  gallantries  were  ofien 
the  subject  of  comment,  and  especially  just  before  his 
death,  which  was  both  mysterious  and  tragic  in  the 
extreme.  He  was  sitting  one  day  in  his  office  talking  to 
a  client,  when  some  one  knocked  at  the  door.  The  office- 
boy  stepped  forward  and  opened  the  door,  and  as  he  did 
so  a  tall  man,  apparently  a  stranger  to  all  present,  en- 
tered the  room.  Mr.  Page  arose  to  receive  his  visitor,  and 
as  he  did  so  the  stranger  advanced  several  paces  towards 
him,  and,  without  saying  a  word  or  moving  his  lips, 
raised  his  right  arm  and  fired  a  pistol,  which  he  had 
carried  concealed  behind  him,  straight  at  Mr.  Page,'a-nd 
then,  without  waiting  a  moment  to  see  the  result  of  his 
shot,  placed  the  muzzle  of  the  pistol  against  his  own 
temple  and  fired  the  second  barrel.  The  two  men,  facing 
each  other,  fell  forward  and  expired  without  a  groan,  the 
hand  of  the  stranger  clutching  the  arm  of  Mr.  Page  in 
the  agonies  of  death.  The  sound  of  the  shots  and  the 
screams  of  the  office-boy  echoed  through  the  building 
and  sounded  down  the  stairway  and  out  on  the  streets. 
Crowds  rushed  up  the  steps  in  the  wildest  excitement, 
only  to  behold  the  ghastly  spectacle.     The  blood  of  the 


122  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

two  men  was  scattered  over  the  floor,  and  mingling  in  a 
pool  between  them,  while  from  the  forehead  of  one  and 
the  temple  of  the  other  their  brains  were  slowly  oozing 
out.  "What  is  this?"  "What does  it  mean?"  "Who  did 
it?"  came  in  quick,  hot  breath  from  every  lip,  and  the 
gathering  crowd  stood  stupified  with  horror,  gazing  first 
at  the  dead  men  and  then  at  the  client,  who  was  standing 
more  horrified  than  any,  with  gaping  mouth  and  de- 
mented eyes,  gazing  with  the  expression  of  a  maniac  at 
the  crowd  that  came  rushing  in;  while  the  office-boy 
writhed  in  the  very  agonies  of  fear.  "What  does  it 
mean?"  shouted  the  crowd,  advancing,  and  some  of  them 
took  hold  of  the  client,  who  still  stood  standing  like  a 
pillar  of  stone.  But  he  could  not  answer,  nor  has  any 
one  been  able  to  answer  to  this  day. 

After  a  time  the  client  and  the  office-boy  were  able  to 
tell  what  happened  in  the  office,  but  more  than  this  they 
did  not  know  and  could  not  tell.  And  so  the  secret 
sleeps,  if  indeed  there  was  any  secret,  and  perhaps  will 
continue  to  sleep  to  the  end  of  time.  Every  effort  was 
made  to  unravel  the  mystery,  but  the  most  skillful  en- 
deavors were  fruitless  of  result.  All  that  could  be  learned 
of  the  murderer  and  suicide  was  that  he  had  been  seen 
once  or  twice  walking  past  Mr.  Page's  office-door,  and  was 
observed  to  stop  and  read  the  sign  and  then  look  up  the 
stej)S  as  though  waiting  for  some  one  to  come  down. 

His  dress  indicated  means,  with  something  of  taste 
and  care.  His  liands  showed  no  marks  of  manual  labor, 
and  his  skin  indicated  that  he  had  not  been  subjected  to 
the  heat  of  the  sun.  Those  who  had  noticed  him  said 
the  expression  of  his  fcice  was  sad,  and  his  manner  rather 
abstracted  and  melancholy.  He  was  about  fifty  years  of 
age,  and  on  his  clotlies  were  found  the  initials  "W.  D." 
There  were  no  papers  found  on  his  person,  nor  in  fact 
anything  that  could  give  the  slightest  clue  as  to  who  he 
was  or  whence  he  came.     He  wore  on  his  shirt-front  a 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  123 

small  gold  badge,  the  sign  of  the  compass  and  the  square, 
and  this  was  evidence  enough  for  the  Masons  that  he 
might  be  an  unfortunate  brother,  and  so  they  took  his 
body  and  buried  it  with  decency  and  resi^ect.  And  as 
they  stood  around  the  grave  silent  and  thoughtful  each 
one  as  he  dropj^ed  a  flower  in  the  grave  thought,  Who 
knows  but  that  he  suffered  some  deep  grievance?  Who 
knows  but  that  he  had  been  given  some  heavy  burthen 
to  bear  which  petrified  his  heart  and  made  life  intoler- 
able? Who  could  say  that  it  was  not  some  deep  wrong 
done  to  a  wife  or  a  daughter  that  death  alone  could 
avenge  ?  None  can  know.  Then  let  all  spread  over  the 
grave  the  veil  of  charity,  and  leave  the  unknown  brother 
to  the  mercy  of  his  Maker. 

The  death  of  her  father  was  a  terrible  shock  to  Mrs. 
Moore.  It  broke  her  spirits  and  undermined  her  health, 
and  for  some  years  it  was  feared  she  would  fall  a  victim 
to  melancholy.  But  when  there  came  a  hope  that  she 
would  become  a  mother,  her  spirits  revived,  and  for  a 
time  she  seemed  to  take  a  new  lease  on  life.  Colonel 
]\Ioore  from  first  to  last  had  done  all  for  her  that  love 
could  suggest.  He  fairly  worshiped  his  invalid  wife. 
The  bright  sunshine  of  glorious  summer  was  not  half  so 
full  of  light  as  was  her  radiant  smile.  And  when  he 
saw  her  spirits  revive  and  she  blushingly  told  him  the 
secret  of  her  joy  his  haj^piness  knew  no  bounds.  He 
clasped  her  to  his  heart  and  pressed  his  lips  to  her's  in 
one  long,  silent  kiss. 

In  due  time  baby  was  born;  and  there  was  no  name 
so  dear  to  his  heart  as  that  of  his  own  precious  wife — his 
lovely  Helen.  So  baby  must  have  mother's  name,  and 
he  would  love  them  as  one.  But  "  the  Lord  giveth  and 
the  Lord  taketh  away,"  and  so  the  strength  that  was 
given  to  the  baby  was  taken  from  the  mother ;  and  when 
the  spring  came  and  the  flowers  bloomed  and  the  birds 
sang  the  spirit  of  Mrs.  ^Moore  soared  away  to  bask  in  the 


12  i  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

liglifc  of  redeeming  love,  and  to  mingle  lier  voice  in  a 
sweeter  choir. 

We  will  pass  over  in  silence  the  grief  of  Colonel  Moore. 
He  had  loved  with  a  devotion,  he  now  mourned  with  a 
sorrow  which  the  world  can  never  know.  Strong  man 
as  he  was,  he  was  crushed  to  the  very  dust.  He  bowed 
his  head  with  Christian  humility,  but  his  heart  felt  the 
death  wound  to  hope. 

As  the  years  passed  by  and  Helen  grew  from  child- 
hood to  mature  years,  he  saw  in  her  the  ever-increasing 
resemblance  to  her  mother,  and  though  he  had  lavished 
his  afiections  upon  her  from  the  first,  she  came  nearer 
and  nearer  to  his  heart  as  this  resemblance  developed, 
until  she  was,  indeed,  the  very  center  of  his  soul.  He 
lived  for  the  happiness  of  his  child,  the  welfare  of  his 
servants,  and  the  glory  of  his  State — the  grand  old  Com- 
monwealth of  A'irginia.  And  to  do  his  whole  duty  to 
each  of  these  was  the  full  tide  of  his  ambition.  He  had 
not  aspired  to  be  a  great  scholar,  though  he  was  strong- 
minded  and  resolute.  He  had  never  dabbled  in  politics, 
and  least  of  all  things  had  he  taken  any  interest  in 
"isms."  He  yielded  not  to  the  schismatic  erudition  or 
scholastic  lore  as  was  then  set  forth  in  the  popular  mania 
of  spirit  rapping,  table  walking,  animal  magnetism,  and 
electro-mesmerism.  He  heard  these  matters  discussed; 
he  saw  many  who  confessed  themselves  proselytes  to  the 
strange  idea  that  an  immortal  soul,  to  amuse  a  lot  of  idle 
girls,  would  materialize  itself  into  the  pine  legs  of  a  deal 
table  and  tell  which  fool  would  be  guilty  of  the  first  folly. 
Thesa  manifestations  he  considered  nothing  more  than 
simple  deception,  and  the  record  of  them  nothing  less 
than  the  jargon  of  half-crazy  cranks  ;  they  were  the  im- 
becile illusions  of  monomania,  or  the  diabolical  trickery 
of  charlatans.  But  when  he  heard  William  Dodge,  the 
friend  of  Charles  Reed;  William  Dodge,  the  elegant,  ac- 
complished gentleman ;  William  Dodge,  the  master  of  elo- 


YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE  125 

quence  and  the  personification  of  refinement;  William 
Dodge,  the  unselfish,  liberal-minded  pliiiantliropist;  Wil- 
liam Dodge,  the  soul  of  chivalry  and  the  ensign  of  moral 
courage,  speak  the  unquestionably  laudations  of  spiritu- 
alism, and  assert  with  commendable  candor  the  revela- 
tions which  he  had  enjoyed  and  the  wonderful  manifesta- 
tions which  he  had  witnessed,  what  could  he  say?  How 
could  he  doubt?  How  could  he  question  the  veracity  of 
William  Dodge?  How  could  l>e  deny,  or  disbelieve,  or 
dispute  the  logical  conclusions  that  had  been  drawn? 
How  could  the  intelligence  of  William  Dodge  bo  deceived  ? 
How  could  his  gigantic  mind  be  hoodwinked?  The  re- 
sult was  inevitable.  The  conclusion  was  indisputable. 
There  was  something  in  spiritualism,  or  there  was  fraud 
somewhere.  Thus  he  was  brought  to  the  stand.  He  was 
made  to  face  the  alternative.  He  was  too  conscientious  to 
assert  what  he  had  no  evidence  to  establish,  and  too  sensi- 
ble to  admit  a  dogma  founded  on  simple  assertion;  and 
thus  he  vacillated  between  the  dictations  of  his  heart  and 
the  evidences  which  his  reason  could  not  refute;  and  so 
his  proud  spirit  chafed  while  it  struggled  in  the  meshes 
of  the  inexplicable  dilemma.  He  could  see  no  reason 
why  William  Dodge  should  wish  to  deceive  him.  Then, 
too,  how  could  William  Dodge  know  anything  of  the 
grand  secret  of  his  life. 

Besides  the  qualifications  already  alluded  to  there  were 
others  which  William  Dodge  possessed  in  a  very  remark- 
able degree,  which,  for  private  reasons  of  his  own,  he 
most  studiously  avoided  displaying.  These  were  his  keen 
observation  of  persons  and  peculiarities.  Besides,  he  was 
a  profound  judge  of  human  nature.  He  seemed  to  know 
the  human  heart  as  a  master  pianist  knows  the  key- 
board of  his  instrument. 

He  could  touch  what  cords  lie  pleased.  He  could 
awaken  the  softest  and  sweetest  harmonies,  or  he  could 
sweep  with  a  wild  dash  of  his  hand  the  full  gamut  of 


126  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

the  human  heart,  and  call  forth  the  storms  of  consuming 
passion  from  the  deepest  hidden  recesses  of  the  soul. 

It  was  a  part  of  the  plan  of  William  Dodge  to  subject 
Colonel  Moore  to  his  will,  and  to  bring  him  into  surveillance 
to  aid  him  in  supplanting  Charles  in  the  affections  of 
Helen  Moore. 

William  Dodge  did  not  know  Helen  Moore,  neither  did 
he  know  the  strength  of  woman's  love ;  when  woman's  love 
is  love.  It  never  had,  it  never  can  enter  into  the  mind  of 
men  like  William  Dodge  the  power  to  understand  women 
like  Helen  Moore.  The  depth  of  a  true  woman's  Boul  is  too 
deep  to  be  fathomed  by  the  sounding  bar  of  unprincipled 
sensualit}^  William  Dodge  judged  woman  as  he  would 
a  butterfly — a  bright  gaudy  thing  flitting  from  tree  to 
flower,  ready  to  leave  the  beauty  of  the  rose  if  it  can  find 
another  more  brilliant  bud — and  so  he  thought  he  might 
dazzle  Helen's  eyes  and  eclipse  Charles;  not  that  he  cared 
for  Helen's  affections;  he  could  not  appreciate  them  if  he 
could  win  them  ;  to  him  they  were  only  as  beautiful  flow- 
ers to  be  plucked  by  the  wayside  of  life  to  be  dissected  as 
a  thing  of  curiosity,  or  enjoyed  as  something  of  novelty  and 
then  to  be  cast  aside,  or,  wdiich  was  nearer  the  truth  in 
this  case,  a  means  to  forward  his  purpose  and  assist  in  his 
dark  designs. 

He  had  been  cheated — robbed — foiled  by  Charles  Reed 
and  in. the  full  flow  of  his  wrath  he  had  opened  a  vein  in 
his  arm  and  let  out  his  blood  after  the  manner  of  the 
ancients,  and  swore,  as  he  sipped  the  red  fluid,  that  he 
would  be  avenged  on  Charles  Reed;  and  that  vow  he 
would  keep,  though  the  surging  cauldrons  of  hell  rolled 
hot  between  him  and  his  object. 

What  was  the  faith  of  William  Dodge  no  human  being 
could  tell.  He  professed  Christianity,  he  practiced  charit}'', 
he  advocated  morality,  taught  sobriety,  and  wore  the 
robes  of  humility ;  but  wherefore  none  could  tell.  No 
one  had  ever  heard   him  speak  of  heavenly  bliss,  nor 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  127 

allude  to  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  These  were  sub- 
jects about  which  his  lips  were  sealed,  and  though  always 
courteous,  even  to  the  menial  and  the  slave,  he  had  his 
way  of  silencing  every  allusion  to  the  subject  made  in  his 
presence,  outside  of  the  pulpit.  There  was  in  this  a  seem- 
ing contradiction  to  his  whole  life,  but  it  was  passed  over 
by  his  friends  as  his  one  eccentricity.  They  thought  it 
might  be  associated  with  some  painful  incident  in  his 
life,  and  so  did  not  obtrude. 

AVhen  Colonel  Moore  retired  to  his  sitting  room,  leaving 
the  young  people  standing  on  the  porch,  they  turned 
and  passed  into  the  parlor.  As  they  entered  the  room, 
Charles  said,  "  Come,  Dodge,  you  liave  never  yet  sung  for 
Miss  Helen;  you  must  favor  us  with  a  song." 

"  Oh !  do,  Mr.  Dodge,  I  shall  be  so  pleased  to  hear  you 
sing,"  said  Helen.  "Mr.  Reed  says  you  have  a  fine  voice." 

As  Helen  spoke,  she  walked  to  the  centre-table  and 
turned  up  the  lamp  which  the  house-maid  had  placed 
there;  Charles  in  the  meantime  advanced  and  opened  the 
piano. 

"  My  friend  Charles  is  a  partial  critic,  Miss  Moore,"  said 
Dodge,  "or  else  he  is  a  poor  judge  of  music,  for  I  am  only 
a  moderately  indifferent  performer." 

''Then  Miss  Helen  shall  judge  for  herself  as  to  the 
merits  of  your  music,"  said  Charles,  "  and  her  judgment 
will  convict  or  acquit  me  of  being  a  partial  critic  or  a 
poor  judge,  of  which  I  now  stand  accused." 

*'  That  is  fair,  Mr.  Dodge,"  said  Helen,  "so  now  we  will 
have  the  song." 

"  It  seems  that  I  must  submit,"  replied  Mr.  Dodge, "for  a 
*  Daniel  has  come  to  judgment,'  and  as  he  walked  to  the 
piano  and  took  his  seat,  he  smiled  and  added,  "  a  Daniel 
as  fair  as  the  fair  Portia  herself."    . 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Helen,  and  she  too  tried  to  smile, 
but  it  was  not  the  smile  which  lighted  up  her  face  when 
her  heart  was  glad,  for  she  enjoyed  compliments  only 


128  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

wlien  they  came  from  those  she  loved  and  knew  loved 
lier. 

Mr.  Dodge  swept  his  hands  over  the  ke5^s,  striking 
various  chords,  and  producing  various  harmonious  sounds, 
but  no  special  tune,  and  then  paused  and  asked,  "  What 
shalllsing?" 

"Your  own  favorite,  Mr.  Dodge,"  replied  Helen;  "let 
that  be  the  first." 

Mr.  Dodge  raised  his  left  hand  to  his  face,  and  passed 
it  across  his  brow  as  though  to  brush  away  the  cobwebs 
of  uncertainty  and  fix  upon  some  certain  song,  and  tlien 
said,  "  You  must  not  mind  then  if  it  be  something  that 
appeals  to  the  heart  when  the  soul  is  full  of  feeling.  I 
will  sing  a  song  which  I  wrote  myself,  suggested  by  seeing 
a  cold-hearted  but  beautiful  woman  refuse  to  grant  a 
poor  heart-broken  man  to  "^^hom  she  had  once  been 
engaged  an  interview,  which  he  had  most  humbly  craved." 

He  then  sung  the  song  which  he  called,  "Hear  me,  Love ;" 
and  he  sang  it  in  the  most  masterly  manner.  He  threw 
his  whole  soul  into  the  music,  and  the  song  as  he  ren- 
dered it  was  the  wild  wail  of  a  broken  heart. 

THE  SONG. 

Hear  me,  love,  I  pray  thee,  hear  me  ! 
For  my  heart  is  truly  thine, 
For  my  soul  hath  never  faltered 
Though  my  soul  in  sadness  pine. 
Though  all  my  life  is  filled  with  gloom, 
Thou  canst  that  life  with  radiance  fill; 
Then  hear  me,  love,  I  prriy  thee,  hear  me — 
God  doth  kuow  I  love  thee  still ! 

Long  in  foreign  lands  I've  wandered, 
My  cruel  fate  hath  made  me  roam, 
But  in  all  my  dread  misfortune 
My  soul  hath  not  one  falsehood  known. 
Oh  !  bid  me  live,  for  I  am  dying, 
Bid  light,  my  life  with  radiance  fill ; 
Oh  !  hear  me,  love,  I  pray  thee,  hear  me — 
God  doth  know  I  love  thee  still ! 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  129 

In  every  pleasing  dream  I've  seen  thee 
Radiant  as  the  rnorning  star, 
Matchless  as  the  queen  of  beauty, 
Crowned  with  roses  sweet  and  fair. 
Thy  smile  to  me  is  like  the  glory 
Of  the  sunset  over  the  hill ; 
Then  hear  me,  love  T  pray  thee,  hear  me — 
God  doth  know  I  love  thee  still ! 

The  song  snng  as  it  was  in  the  most  pathetic  manner 
could  but  touch  the  sympathetic  cords  of  Helen's  heart 
and  bedewed  her  eyes  with  the  flow  of  tenderness.  She 
moved  her  position  as  the  singer  ceased  so  as  to  j^lace  her 
back  to  the  light  and  thus  shade  her  face;  for  a  single 
moment  she  was  silent,and  then  she  said,  "I  will  have  to 
acquit  Mv.  Reed  of  your  grave  charges." 

"Thank  you, Miss  Moore,"  replied  Mr.  Dodge,  "I  shall 
treasure  up  that  delicate  compliment,"  and  he  looked  down 
as  though  he  was  trying  to  conceal  an  appreciation  which 
he  dared  not  express. 

''I  too  must  thank  yon,  Dodge"  said  Charles;"!  never 
heard  you  sing  that  song  before.  Some  day  Miss  Helen  will 
no  doubt  sing  for  you  in  return  as  reward  for  us  both,  but 
we  must  be  riding  now  ;  I  promised  father  to  be  home  to 
tea,  and  yon  star  glimmering  in  the  West  you  see  through 
the  window  heralds  the  approach  of  evening." 

Helen  invited  the  gentlemen  to  stay  to  tea,  but  Charles 
declined,  saying,  "  I  am  in  filial  duty  to  be  home  early 
to-night.  Father  expects  to  leave  for  Richmond  in  the 
morning  and  said  he  wished  to  speak  with  me  on  matters 
of  business  before  he  leaves."  As  Charles  said  this  the 
young  people  walked  out  on  the  porch,  and  JNIr.  Dodge  as 
though  profoundly  considerate  of  love's  inclination  for  an 
unwitnessed  parting,  walked  to  the  further  end  of  the 
porch,  and  pretended  to  be  deeply  interested  in  astronomi- 
cal observations.  Just  then  the  tea-bell  sounded,  and 
Helen  renewed  her  invitation  to  tea,  but  Charles,  laughing, 
said,  "Nay,  no  time  is  to  be  lost;  it  is  needful  that  I  go  to 
9 


130  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

arrange  my  bachelor  affairs,"  and  he  pressed  Helen's 
hand. 

Mr.  Dodge  heard  the  remark,  and  coming  forward,  said 
"  Be  careful ;  no  inuendoes — no  conspiracy — no  plotting 
against  the  whites." 

Helen  laughed  her  merry  ringing  laugh,  and  said, 
"  Have  him  arrested,  Mr.  Dodge ;  his  mind  is  on  mischief 
bent." 

The  gentlemen  then  took  their  leave  and  soon  the  quick 
clatter  of  horses'  feet  told  of  rapid  riding  for  Melrose 
Abbey,  the  home  of  Dabney  Reed. 


/     \ 


CHAPTER  IX. 


AT  tlie  time  Charles  was  hurt  by  tlie  fall  from  his 
horse,  he  was  carried,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  Grove 
by  Uncle  Ben  and  William  Dodge,  the  Grove  being 
much  nearer  than  the  Abbey,  the  home  of  Mr.  Keed. 
Charles's  father  was  sent  for  at  once,  and  medical  aid 
quickly  summoned.  Mr.  Reed  and  Doctor  Hall  both 
came  as  quickly  as  possible.  When  Charles  fell  his  head 
struck  a  rock,  which  produced  concussion  of  the  brain, 
which  rendered  him  insensible  for  some  hours.  He  was 
not  seriously,  but  painfully  hurt,  so  much  that  he  could 
not  be  taken  home  for  several  da3's,  during  which  time 
he  was  nursed  with  all  the  tenderness  of  love  and  affec- 
tion. 

Mr.  Dodge  had  shown  himself  the  most  anxious  and 
sorrowful  of  friends.  He  was  unremiss  in  his  attentions 
and  most  tender  in  his  nursing.  He  seemed  to  feel  that 
he  was  to  some  extent  the  cause  of  the  mishap,  and  this 
afforded  ample  occasion  to  show  his  anxiety  for  the  safety 
and  welfare  of  the  wounded  friend. 

As  soon  as  he  told  his  name  all  knew  well  who  he  was, 
and  Mr.  Reed  as  soon  as  he  arrived  recognized  him  at 
once.  He  said  he  was  on  his  way  to  make  Charles  a  visit 
in  accordance  with  his  promise  at  the  time  they  parted. 
He  had  gotten  off  the  packet-boat  and  started  to  walk  to 
Melrose  Abbey,  as  the  distance  was  short  and  the  weather 
fine,  and  had  just  stopped  for  a  moment  to  rest  and  enjoy 
the  scenery  when  he  saw  Charles  coming,  and  recognizing 
him  at  once,  in  the  joy  of  his  heart  started  up  quickly  to 
speak  to  Charles,  and  most  unexpectedly  and  uninten- 
tionally became  the  occasion  of  the  unfortunate  fall.  He 
G31) 


132  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

said  he  had  not  written  Charles  to  apprise  him  of  the 
proposed  visit,  because  he  was  not  certain  until  the  last 
moment  that  he  would  be  able  to  get  off.  Besides,  he 
wished  to  give  his  friend  a  regular  surprise. 

Neither  Helen,  Colonel  Moore,  or  ]\Ir.  Eeed  entertained 
for  one  moment  the  slightest  suspicion  as  to  the  correct- 
ness of  Mr,  Dodge's  statement,  nor  questioned  the  sin- 
cerity of  his  grief. 

Uncle  Ben  told  what  he  knew  in  regard  to  the  matter, 
which  did  not  materially  conflict  with  anything  Mr. 
Dodge  said  on  the  subject.  "  He  did  not  see  Mars  Charles 
fall,  and  only  came  'long  by  chance  to  fetch  Inm  home  and 
save  his  life."  But  he  shook  his  head  and  looked  serious 
when  any  one  spoke  of  Mr.  Dodge.  He  did  not  see  Mr. 
Dodge  do  anything  wrong.  It  was  what  Mr.  Dodge  did 
not  do  that  bothered  the  old  negro.  So  when  he  saw 
how  attentive  and  careful  Mr.  Dodge  waited  on  Charles, 
how  sorry  he  looked,  and  how  concerned  he  seemed,  the 
old  man  was  more  than,  ever  puzzled.  He  would  turn 
away  his  face,  set  his  head  to  one  side,  and  look  thought- 
ful, as  though  to  say,  "  There  is  something  I  can't  under- 
stand." And  when  night  came  on  he  insisted  that  "He, 
too,  would  stay  up  and  be  on  hand  in  case  Mars  Charles 
should  come  round  and  want  something.  'Twant  right 
for  Miss  Helen  to  be  up,  and  Mars  Beverly  and  Mars 
Dabney  wan't  used  to  bein'  up  late,  and  he  knowed  the 
Doctor  would  go  to  sleep,  and  Mr.  Dodge  was  a  stranger 
and  couldn't  find  nothing  if  'twas  wanted."  So  he  said, 
"I'm  gwine  to  stay  up  jest  in  case  anybody  should  want 
something,  'cause  I  knows  most  whar  everything  is,  any- 
way." 

Mr.  Dodge  would  have  been  most  pleased  to  have  dis- 
pensed with  the  old  negro's  company  during  the  silent 
vigils  of  the  night,  and  with  a  view  to  conciliation  at- 
tempted to  place  a  half-dollar  in  the  old  negro's  hand, 
saying  as  he  did  so  in  the  kindest  voice  imaginable,  "I 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  133 

am  younger  than  you  are.  If  you  should  drop  to  sleep 
I  will  wake  you  if  you  are  needed."  But  old  Ben  drew 
back  his  hand  and  said,  "Please,  Boss,  but  I  rather  do 
this  for  love  than  money."  And  he  gave  Mr.  Dodge  a 
look  full  of  sadness  and  full  of  inquiry. 

The  old  negro's  heart  was  troubled.  His  instincts  were 
at  work.  He  would  say  to  himself,  "Somethin'  is  whis- 
pering to  me,  but  so  low  I  can't  cotch  all  the  words.  My 
mind  is  atellin'  me  somethin',  but  I  can't  jist  make  out 
what  he  say.  I  don't  know  how  'tis,  but  I'm  gwine  to 
see  what  I  see  dis  night!"  and  he  was  faithful  to  that 
resolution. 

The  old  man's  eyes  followed  Mr.  Dodge  as  he  moved 
about  the  room,  and  noted  the  slightest  thing  that  was 
done.  For  the  first  time  in  all  his  life  the  brilliant,  fas- 
cinating William  Dodge  had  met  his  match,  and  he  felt 
embarrassed  beneath  the  sad  but  respectful  gaze  of  the 
old  servant. 

Reader,  did  you  ever  feel  yourself  the  object  of  suspicion? 
Did  you  ever  feel  that  you  were  constantly  watched  ?  Did 
you  ever  feel  that  your  every  movement  was  closely  noted, 
and  that  every  expression  of  your  face  and  tone  of  your 
voice  was  subjected  to  the  closest  scrutiny?  And  j'ou 
unable  to  escape  it,  and  powerless  to  resist  or  resent  it? 
If  so,  3'ou  have  known  what  it  is  to  be  perfectly  miserable. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  a  conscience  even  in  a  dog.  If 
you  don't  believe  it  wait  until  you  have  detected  a  dog  in 
the  act  of  killing  a  sheep  or  sucking  an  egg,  and  then 
look  at  him,  and  if  the  expression  of  his  eye  and  the  drop 
of  his  tail  don't  satisfy  you  that  he  feels  that  he  has  been 
caught  doing  a  mean  thing,  then  skip  the  balance  of  this 
chapter,  and  claim  that  you  have  won  the  debate. 

William  Dodge  would  not  live  over  again  the  agonies 
of  that  night  fur  all  the  jewels  of  the  British  Crown.  He 
felt  that  the  instinct  of  that  old  illiterate  slave  had  at 
last  pierced  the  veil,  which  had  been  used  to  baffle  edu- 


134  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

cated  reason  and  refined  culture,  and  that  his  heart  had 
now  become  an  open  book  of  vile  pictures  subject  to  the 
gaze  of  at  least  that  old  black  negro. 

When  day  dawned,  he  resigned  his  place  by  the  bed- 
side of  Charles  to  Mr.  Reed,  and  retired  to  the  room 
assigned  him,  ostensibly  to  sleep;  but  sleep  found  no 
place  with  him.  He  closed  the  door,  and  turning  looked 
in  the  glass.  He  was  startled  by  the  ghastly  pallor  of  his 
cheeks  and  haggard  expression.  He  was  frightened;  he 
felt  detected;  lie  felt  undone,  ruined,  disgraced.  He 
stood  a  moment  and  gazed  at  himself  reflected  from  the 
mirror.  Then  his  fear  gave  place  to  anger,  and  anger  to 
infuriated  passion.  He  ground  his  teeth  and  clinched 
his  hands  like  a  raving  maniac,  and  cursed,  with  the 
bitterest  and  most  blasj^hemous  curse,  the  "base  black  soul 
of  the  old  slave.  Bat  for  him  that  medicine  might  have 
gone  to  the  slop-bowl,  and  my  mission  here  possibly  half 
accomplished.  With  these  nails  I  could  tear  out  that 
accursed  life,  and  with  these  hands  I  could  pluck  that 
foul  tongue  from  his  throat.  And  by  the  demon  of  dark- 
ness, I'll  do  it.     Hell  take  my  soul  if  I  don't." 


CHAPTER  X. 

MELROSE  ABBEY  was  something  over  a  mile  from 
the  Grove.  The  two  plantations  joined  each  other, 
only  the  river  separating  them.  They  were  both  elegant 
farms,  and  were  considered  among  the  most  productive 
and  best  cultivated  in  all  the  State;  and  the  respec- 
tive owners,  Dabney  Reed  and  Beverly  Moore,  had  been 
life-long  friends.  They  differed  in  many  respects,  but 
they  were  both  high-toned,  high-minded,  honorable  men, 
and  the  heart  of  either  would  have  withered  at  the 
thought  of  being  guilty  of  a  low,  or  mean  act.  They 
belonged  to  the  same  church,  and  voted  the  same  ticket 
in  politics.  They  believed  in  the  principles  of  JefFerson- 
ian  Democracy,  which  had  been  taught  them  by  their 
fathers,  and  with  them  a  principle  was  fixed  and  immu- 
table. Men  may  change,  ideas  may  change,  circumstances 
naay  change,  and  policy  may  change ;  but  principles  never 
change,  they  are  as  fixed  as  the  shining  stars.  Policy  is  one 
thing,  principle  another.  Principle  once  settled,  is  settled 
for  all  time,  and  to  violate  a  principle  is  to  degrade  the 
soul. 

History  told  them  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Jeffersonian 
Democracy  was  clearly,  concisely  and  unequivocally  set 
forth  in  the  Kentucky  resolutions  of  '98  and  the  Vir- 
ginia resolutions  of  '99,  and  that  the  doctrine  of  these 
resolutions  was  overwhelmingly  endorsed  and  clearly 
settled  by  the  election  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  to  the  presi- 
dency in  1800  as  the  principles  of  the  Federal  constitu- 
tion; and  no  power  on  earth  could  change  those  princi- 
ples and  no  human  being  could  violate  them  without 
injustice,  and  where  injustice  is  done  wrong  is  inflicted. 

(135) 


136  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

What  the  constitution  spoke  then,  and  intended  to 
speak,  must  be  spoken  and  intended  until  the  constitution 
is  changed,  for  written  documents  never  vary  their  mean- 
ing. A  contract  to  do  or  not  to  do,  stands  a  contract  to 
do  or  not  to  do  for  all  time.  What  the  framers  of  the 
constitution  intended  is  the  obligation  which  they  under- 
took. The  obligation  which  they  undertook  is  the  obli- 
gation imposed  upon  every  man,  woman  and  child  who 
claims  the  protection  of  that  sacred  instrument.  The 
constitution  could  be  changed.  It  can  be  changed  now. 
There  was  a  way  provided  to  change  it.  There  is  still  a 
way  by  which  it  may  be  changed.  But  until  that  change 
is  made  the  principle  first  intended  is  the  principle  still 
obligatory. 

Don't  let  us  say  one  thing  and  mean  another.  Don't 
let  usmean  one  thing  and  do  another.  Don't  let  us  do 
one  thing  and  preach  another.  The  gist  of  every  contract 
is  the  intent,  and  there  is  no  rule  of  construction  so  infalli- 
ble as  that  the  parties  who  make  a  contract  are  the  most 
competent  to  speak  as  to  the  intent,  and  when  the  makers 
of  a  contract  have  spoken  and  declared  tlie  intent,  no 
power  on  earth  has  the  right  to  change  the  interpretation. 

The  constitution  of  the  United  States  was  adopted  in 
the  year  1789.  The  resolutions  known  as  the  Kentucky 
and  Virginia  resolutions  of  '98  and  '99,  was  a  political 
interpretat*ion  of  the  constitution,  and  that  interpretation 
was  overwhelmingly  voiced  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son to  the  presidency  in  the  year  1800,  and  re-elected 
four  years  later,  and  again  endorsed  by  the  election  of 
Mr.  Madison  fur  two  terms,  attlie  expiration  of  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son's terms  of  service,  for  ]\Ir.  Jefferson  was  the  author  of 
the  Kentucky  resolutions,  and  the  Virginia  resolutions 
were  written  by  Mr.  Madison. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  tell  an  American  reader,  that 
the  doctrine  set  forth  in  these  Kentucky  and  Virginia 
resolutions  is  the  doctrine  properly  known  as  ''Jefferson- 
ian  Democracy." 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  137 

Then  to  be  brief,  Jeffersonian  Democracy  means  a 
strict  construction  of  tlie  constitution  of  the  United  States. 
It  means  that  the  Federal  government  has  no  power 
except  delegated  powers.  That  all  powers  not  delegated 
to  the  Federal  constitution  are  reserved  to  the  States.  It 
means  that  the  States,  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the 
Federal  constitution  were  free,  sovereign  and  independent 
States,  and  that  they  did  not  surrender  their  sovereignty 
by  acceding  to,  or  adopting  the  Federal  constitution ;  and 
as  free  sovereign  and  independent  States,  each  State  has 
the  right  to  judge  for  itself,  not  only  as  to  infractions  of 
the  constitution  by  Congress  or  by  a  sister  State,  but  also 
the  manner  of  redress. 

That  the  reader  may  fully  understand  the  nature  of  the 
Kentucky  resolutions,  and  Bee  for  him  or  herself  the 
grounds  on  which,  the  States-right  doctrine  rest,  the 
author,  even  at  the  risk  of  proving  tedious  to  some,  ven- 
tures to  give  a  verbatim  copy  of  the  first  of  these  resolu- 
tions; for  upon  the  principles  embodied  in  them,  the 
right  of  secession  rest.     Tlie  resolutions  were  as  follows : 

"That  the  several  States,  composing  the  United  States  of 
America,  are  not  united  on  the  principle  of  unlimited 
submission  to  their  general  government;  but  that  by 
compact,  under  the  style  and  title  of  a  constitution  for  the 
United  States,  and  of  amendments  thereto,  they  consti- 
tuted a  general  government  for  special  purposes,  delegated 
to  that  government  certain  definite  powers  reserving  each 
State  to  itself,  the  residuary  mass  of  right  to  their  own 
self-government.  And  that  whensoever  the  general  gov- 
ernment assumes  undelegated  powers,  its  acts  are  unau- 
thoritative, void,  and  of  no  force.  That  to  this  compact, 
each  State  acceded  as  a  State,  and  is  an  integral  part,  its 
co-States  forming  as  to  itself  the  other  party.  That  this 
government  created  by  this  compact  was  not  made  the 
exclusive  or  final  judge  of  the  extent  of  the  powers  dele- 
gated to  itself.     Since  that  would  have  made  its  discretion, 


138  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

and  not  the  constitution,  the  measure  of  its  powers ;  but 
that,  as  in  all  other  cases  of  compact  among  parties  having 
no  common  judge,  each  party  has  an  equal  right  to  judge 
for  itself,  as  well  of  infractions,  as  of  the  mode  and 
measure  of  redress." 

These  resolutions  were  written  by  ]\Ir.  Jefferson  for  the 
Kentucky  Legislature,  and  passed  by  that  body,  and 
intended  as  a  rebuke  to  Mr.  Adams,  who  had  shown  by 
hisadministration  a  tendency  towards  consolidation.  The 
country  endorsed  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  elevated  him  to  the 
presidency. 

These  events  took  place  in  the  infancy  of  the  Eepublic. 
The  men  who  made  the  constitution  were  still  alive ;  they 
knew  what  they  intended.  Then  there  can  be  no  doubt 
but  that  the  Kentucky  resolutions  were  in  strict  accord 
with  the  spirit  and  intent  of  the  constitution.  The  jorin- 
ciple  cannot  change.  Change  the  constitution  if  it  does 
not  suit  you ;  but  do  not  change  the  meaning  until  you 
change  the  compact. 

Such  were  the  politics  of  Beverly  Moore  and  such  were 
the  politics  of  Dabney  Reed;  but  the  two  men  differed  in 
many  other  respects.  They  differed  in  temperament,  they 
differed  in  habits,  they  differed  in  taste,  they  differed  in 
the  bent  of  their  intellectuality,  and  in  many  other  charac- 
teristics. Beverly  Moore,  was  mild,  amiable,  gentle, 
sympathetic,  warm-hearted  and  impulsive;  liberal  to  a 
fault,  quick  to  forgive,  candid  and  open.  He  dealt' 
honestly  with  the  world.  He  never  entertained  a  suspi- 
cion, and  was  ever  ready  to  compromise  a  right  rather  than 
to  take  the  risk  of  inflicting  a  wrong. 

Dabney  Reed  was  firm,  resolute,  determined,  often  im- 
petuous, though  ever  generous.  What  was  due  him,  he 
v/anted,  though  he  might  take  it  with  one  hand  and  give 
it  back  with  the  other.  What  was  due  to  others,  he 
yielded  up  with  a  more  than  willing  spirit.  Where  his 
mind  was  in  doubt,  he  was  neither  austere  nor  arrogant; 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  139 

but  what  he  knew  to  be  his  right,  he  exacted  down  to  tlie 
last  scruple,  and  in  this  respect  he  looked  upon  a  com- 
promise as  a  quasi  false  confession. 

He  was  tlie  leading  lawyer  in  all  his  section  of  the 
State,  and  enjoyed  a  wide  and  lucrative  practice.  Con- 
gressional honors  had  been  repeatedly  tendered  him,  but  all 
of  these  he  had  politely,  but  firmly  declined,  because  be- 
tween the  political  roleand  the  legal  profession,  he  consider- 
ed the  latter  the  most  honorable.  He  had  no  inclination  to 
elbow  for  place  and  preferment;  he  enjoyed  his  indepen- 
dence and  appreciated  the  liberty  of  action.  He  was  ever 
ready  to  serve  his  native  State  if  she  desired  his  services. 
That  was  a  duty  as  well  as  a  pleasure;  to  serve  his  State 
was  like  the  privilege  to  serve  his  dear  old  mother,  it  was 
an  honor,  and  when  he  did  come  to  render  his  service,  it 
was  her  good  and  her  glory  that  invoked  the  inspiration. 
The  laurel  wreath  was  for  her  brow,  the  crown  was  for 
her  adornment. 

In  the  presidential  canvass,  wdiich  had  just  closed,  and 
which  had  resulted  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  Mr. 
Reed  had  taken  a  deep  interest  and  active  part;  he  had 
advocated  tlie  claims  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  of  Illinois, 
and  he  had  brought  to  the  support  of  that  claimant  all 
the  powers  of  his  eloquence  and  the  patriotism  of  his 
heart. 

He  spoke  in  many  parts  of  the  State,  and  the  splendor 
of  his  declamation,  coupled  with  the  inexorable  logic  of 
facts  borne  on  and  pressed  forward  with  all  the  intense 
earnestness  of  his  nature  and  the  burning  enthusiasm  of 
his  heart,  elicited  the  profoundest  respect  and  command- 
ed the  highest  admiration. 

He  advocated  the  claims  of  Douglas  because  he  thought 
there  had  been  a  departure  from  Democratic  usage  in  the 
disruption  of  the  Charleston  Convention.  He  advocated 
the  claims  of  Douglas  because  he  believed  the  platform  of 
that  ticket  was  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  compromise  of 


140  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

1850,  and  he  advocated  the  carrying  out  of  that  compro- 
mise, because  he  believed  that  equity  and  good  conscience 
required  that  terms  of  adjustment  in  the  matter  of  a 
disputed  claim,  once  agreed  upon  and  clearly  defined, 
should  be  kept  in  good  faith  as  a  principle  of  political 
morals.  He  advocated  the  claims  of  Douglas  because  he 
believed  that  his  election  would  be  more  conducive  to  the 
peace  and  harmony  of  the  whole  Union.  Douglas  stood 
the  meaiL  between  the  extreme  aggressive  abolition  idea 
of  the  North  and. the  red-hot  defiance  of  the  South;  he 
believed  the  Douglas  platform  was  the  only  ground  upon 
which  the  Union  could  rest  secure,  and  his  election  the 
only  election  that  could  assuage  the  surging  passions  of 
sectional  discord ;  but  his  efforts  were  in  vain,  the  storm 
of  passion,  raged,  with  dreadful  fury;  the  deep  thunders  of 
gathering  wrath  rolled  and  muttered  in  angry  cadence  all 
along  the  political  sky,  and  brave  men  held  their  breath 
ill  painful  silence  and  anxious  suspense,  waiting  to  see 
where  the  lightnings  would  strike. 

The  spirit  of  compromise  was  dead — Lincoln  himself 
had  said  so;,  he  had  declared  "that  the  time  had  come 
when  the  Union  could  not  endure  half  slave  and  half 
free,"  and  Seward  had  echoed  back  the  cry  and  sent  the 
defiance  forth,  demanding  the  gage  of  battle  upon  the 
plain  of  "the  irrepressible  conflict,"  declaring  " that  the 
United  States  must  and  will  become  entirely  slave-holding 
or  entirely  free-labor." 

Such  words  from  such  sources  meant  death  to  constitu- 
tional guarantees — death  to  the  institution  of  the  South — 
death  to  her  sons,  and  desecration  to  her  soil.  Of  all  the 
millions  of  people  North  and  South,  there  was  not  one 
who  imagined  for  one  single  moment  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
entertained  the  remotest  idea  that  the  North  would  ever 
become  slave  territory.  No  !  he  meant  death  to  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery,  and  that  by  the  strong  arm  of  war,  if 
he  meant  anything,  and  he  was  not  a   man  likely  to 


YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE.  141 

indulge  in  gasconades,  for  he  knew  that  the  South  was 
not  ready  to  advocate  emancipation.  Such  was  the  lan- 
guage of  Mr.  Lincohi,  made  in  a  political  speech  at 
Springfield,  Illinois,  on  the  17th  day  of  June,  1858,  and 
endorsed  and  approved  and  re-echoed  by  William  H. 
Seward,  at  Rochester,  New  York,  on  the  25th  day  of 
October  of  the  same  year.  And  yet,  despite  this  language 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  despite  this  declaration  of  war,  despite 
this  open  hostility  to  the  interests  and  institutions  of  one 
half  of  the  States  of  the  Union,  despite  this  fixed  purpose, 
freely  expressed  and  loudly  proclaimed,  to  force  the  opin- 
ions of  the  North  over  the  barriers  of  the  constitution, 
and  down  the  throats  of  the  people  of  the  South,  this 
was  the  man  that  the  Republican  party  had,  in  the  very 
face  of  such  expressions,  nominated  for  president  of  the 
United  States,  and  elected  him  to  be  the  chief  magistrate 
of  the  National  Republic.  Twelve  States  did  not  give 
him  a  single  solitary  vote,  and  the  three  States  of  Vir- 
ginia (then  including  West  Virginia),  Maryland  and 
Delaware,  combined,  with  a  voting  population  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty-one  thousand,  only  gave  him  eight 
thousand  votes. 

South  Carolina  was  furious  with  indignation,  while  the 
whole  South  stood  amazed  at  the  rapid  advance  of  fanati- 
cism. The  candid  reader  would  do  well  to  pause  and 
contemplate.  Fifteen  States  of  the  Union  were  slave-hold- 
ing States.  What  was  the  South  to  do  ?  How  could  she 
feel  secure?  Thirteen  of  the  States,  which  had  voted  for 
Mr.  Lincoln,  had  openly  and  avowedly  disregarded  their 
obligations  under  that  clause  of  the  constitution  which 
provided  for  the  rendition  of  fugitive  slaves.  There 
can  be  no  dispute  about  the  facts.  The  North  admitted 
the  breach  of  contract;  admitted  the  violation  of  the 
constitution  ;  declared  they  could  not  and  would  not  keep 
the  terms  nor  the  spirit  of  the  obligation.  They  justified 
their  acts   on   conscientious   grounds.    Liberty  of  con- 


142  YANKEE   DOODLK   DIXIE. 

science  they  demanded ;  liberty  of  conscience  tliey  denied 
to  the  Souili.  Again,  wliat  was  tlie  South  to  do,  if  tlie 
resolutions  of  '98  and  '99  were  a  true  exposition  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  constitution,  and  a  correct  expression  of  the 
rights  of  the  States,  then  the  South  had  the  right  to  judge, 
as  well  of  the  infractions,  as  of  the  mode  and  measure  of 
redress.  If  she  had  the  right  and  exercised  it,  who  had 
the  right  to  oppose  it?  Who  will  say,  to  deny  a  right  is 
not  to  inflict  a  wrong? 

Such  were  the  thoughts  and  feelings  and  opinions  of 
Dabney  Reed.  Such  was  his  political  creed,  formed  and 
fixed  after  deep  study,  full  and  laborious  investigation, 
and  a  sincere  desire  to  find  the  truth  and  do  the  right; 
and  Charles  Keed  had  drunk  at  the  same  fountain  with 
his  father,  and  imbibed  the  same  ideas,  and  now  shared 
with  him  the  same  political  principles:  and  it  may  be 
truthfully  said,  that  with  but  slight  variation  in  the 
matter  of  polic}^  the  opinions  and  politics  of  Dabney 
Reed,  as  here  set  forth,  reflected  the  political  creed  of 
ninety-nine  one-hundreths  of  the  entire  citizens  of  the 
South,  since  the  record  shows  that  the  vote  stood  321,000 
to  8,000  in  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Delaware,  while  not 
a  single  vote  was  cast  for  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  other  twelve 
cotton  States. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

SUPPER  was  announced  soon  after  the  young  men 
reached  Melrose  Abbey,  and  when  they  entered  the 
dining-room  they  found  that  Mr.  Reed  had  company  to 
tea  in  the  person  of  the  worthy  Dr.  Hall,  the  family  phy- 
sician :  if  indeed  it  can  be  properly  said  Mr.  Reed  had 
any  family  physician,  since  he  and  Charles  were  all  that 
were  left — his  wife  having  died  many  years  before,  and 
shortly  thereafter  his  only  daughter.  But  Mr.  Reed  was 
the  owner  of  quite  a  number  of  servants,  and  it  was  to 
attend  to  these  that  the  professional  visits  of  the  doctor 
were  made. 

The  four  gentlemen  took  their  seats  at  the  table,  and 
Dr.  Hall — doctor  like — took  the  lead  in  the  conversation. 
He  told  such  matters  of  neighborhood  news  as  he  had 
gathered  in  the  rounds  of  his  practice,  indulging  the 
while  in  such  comments  thereon  as  circumstances  sug- 
gested. Jiist  as  the  meal  was  ended  the  post-boy  brought 
in  the  mail  and  handed  it  to  Mr.  Reed,  Mho  looked  it 
over  and  distributed  the  letters.  There  were  two  for 
Charles,  both  from  old  college  friends — one  from  Chester 
Hemphill,  of  South  Carolina,  and  the  other  from  Mr. 
Sparks.  There  was  also  a  letter  for  Mr.  Dodge,  post- 
marked Washington,  D.  C,  which  he  opened,  glanced  at 
its  contents,  and  then  put  it  in  his  pocket. 

Mr.  Reed's  letters,  with  one  exception,  were  business 
letters  relating  to  professional  matters.  This  one  was 
from  his  warm,  personal  friend,  John  T.  Thornton,  of 
Cumberland  county,  who  had  been  an  elector  on  the 
Breckinridge  ticket. 

Mr.  Reed  read  the  letter  aloud.     It  was  eminently  con- 

(143) 


144  YANKEE  DOODLE   DIXIE. 

servative  and  full  of  feeling.  There  was  no  gush  nor 
passion  about  it,  but  the  whole  letter  breathed  a  tone  of 
sadness  and  regret  which  showed  the  sincerity  of  the 
writer.  He  fully  appreciated  the  fact  that  our  country 
was  in  the  midst  of  a  terrible  crisis,  and  he  freely  con- 
fessed that  he  could  not  see  any  way  clear  that  would 
lead  out  of  the  troubles. 

After  speaking  at  some  length  with  much  regret  in 
regard  to  the  unfortunate  differences  between  the  two 
wings  of  the  Democratic  party  and  the  disruption  of  the 
Charleston  Convention,  which,  he  said,  ought  never  to 
have  occurred,  and  the  late  platform  of  the  Whig  party, 
which  was  simply  that  they  would  have  no  special  plat- 
form other  than  "A  resolution  to  sustain,  uphold  and 
keep  inviolate  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,"  he 
closed  his  letter  by  saying : 

"  "We  who  believe  in  the  constitution,  who  desire  that 
it  shall  be  construed  according  to  the  letter  and  the  prin- 
ciples of  '98  and  '99,  and  who  believe  the  Union  ought 
not  and  cannot  be  continued  upon  any  other  principle 
than  *  the  constitution  kept,'  have  lost  this  fi.s^ht  by  our 
folly.  While  we  were  wasting  our  time  elbowing  for 
place  at  a  side-show  the  Black  Republicans  have  rushed 
in  and  occupied  our  seats  in  the  main  building,  for  the 
election  returns  show  that  Mr.  Lincoln  has  only  received 
1,857,000  of  the  popular  vote,  while  the  other  candidates 
have  received  in  the  aggregate  2,804,000 ;  but  under  the 
law  Mr.  Lincoln  is  elected,  and  now  the  question  is  what 
is  to  be  done  . 

"  For  m}'  part,  I  say  let  us  commit  no  more  follies. 
Let  us  do  nothing  rashly.  Let  us  unite  our  hands,  the 
same  as  our  hearts  are  united,  for  the  good  of  our  whole 
land  and  the  peace  of  our  common  country." 

"  You  have  much  influence  in  the  North  and  much 
influence  in  the  South.  Write  to  your  friends  in  both 
sections  and  join  me  in  the  prayer  for  conciliation.     Do 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DTXTE.  145 

what  you  can  to  cast  oil  upon  the  troubled  waters  before 
the  waves  rise  too  high  and  the  good  ship  founders  in 
the  storm." 

"  I  believe  if  the  North  will  only  stay  the  hand  of 
fanaticism  and  show  a  willingness  to  guarantee  constitu- 
tional rights — repeal  their  obnoxious  'fugitive  slave  acts' 
and  'liberty  bills,'  which  they  know  and  admit  are  uncon- 
stitutional— and  the  South  can  only  be  induced  to  stay 
all  action  until  angry  passion  has  had  time  to  cool,  there 
will  be  no  disunion." 

"  But  if  we  cannot  induce  the  North  to  stay  and  pursue 
the  path  of  justice,  and  give  to  us  the  rights  which  they 
admit  the  constitution  pledges ;  then,  by  all  means,  if  we 
must  act,  let  us  act  in  harmony.  I  look  upon  it  in  any 
case  as  actually  essential,  and  of  the  very  highest  impor- 
tance, that  the  South  shall  act  as  a  unit." 

"I  beg,  then,  that  you  will  especially  write  to  j^our 
friends  of  South  Carolina  and  urge  them  not  to  be  hasty; 
not  to  be  rash  ;  not  to  be  precipitate ;  but  to  wait  and  co- 
operate -with  the  other  Southern  States,  for  what  is  done 
by  one  should  be  done  by  all ;  else  better  that  nothing  be 
done  by  any.  Time  is  requisite  to  co-operation ;  co-opera- 
tion then  means  time  gained ;  time  gained  affords  oppor- 
tunity for  meditation ;  meditation  will  cool  the  blood,  and 
prove  profitable  employment,  and  thus  the  North,  too, 
may  be  induced  to  stop  and  think." 

"  Let  us  take  care  that  we  do  not  mistake  passion  and 
prejudice  and  partisan  purposes  for  principle.  Let  us 
take  care  that  we  do  not  mistake  the  fury  of  fever  and  the 
madness  of  monomania  for  the  glow  of  patriotism." 

Mr.  Reed  arose  to  his  feet,  as  lie  finished  reading  this 
most  loyal  and  truly  patriotic  letter,  and  walked  the  floor 
in  manifest  agitation,  his  countenance  aglow  with  the 
light  of  intellectual  excitement. 

^  *'  Thornton  is  right,"  he  said  ;  "  yes,  Thornton  is  right — 
right  in.  his  head  and  right  in  his  heart.     This  letter 
10 


146  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

breathes  the  spirit  of  lofty  patriotism,  moral  courage,  and 
glorious  manhood.  We  have  suffered  deep  wrong  beyond 
a  question ;  we  have  been  reviled,  abused,  slandered,  vili- 
fied and  insulted  by  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  by  the 
people,  and  by  incendiary  pamphlets.  We  have  been 
called  infidels,  heretics  and  heathens.  We  have  been 
denounced  as  slave-hunters,  slave-drivers,  slave-sellers, 
slave-killers;  called  trafickersof  human  blood  and  barter- 
ers  of  human  souls.  We  have  been  read  outside  of  the  pale 
of  Christianity  and  steeped  in  the  very  dregs  of  barbarism. 
Every  word  that  can  insult  and  every  epithet  that  can 
degrade  has  been  applied  to  us.  The  lash  of  moral 
correction  lias  been  laid  upon  our  naked  backs  until 
manhood  revolts  at  the  scourge.  Mockery  and  ridicule 
and  hatred  have  been  poured  out  upon  our  heads  in  one 
unbroken  stream  of  vituperation  for  fifty  years.  Their 
statute  books  glow  with  the  rhetoric  of  denunciation 
against  us;  and  that  in  admitted  violation  of  the  national 
constitution,  they  have  flooded  our  country  with  their 
flaming  pamphlets,  kindling  the  fires  of  insurrection 
among  our  slaves,  and  inciting  them  to  attempt  to  walk 
to  the  goal  of  freedom  over  the  blood  of  our  slaughtered 
babes  and  through  the  smoke  of  our  burning  homes. 
They  have  sent  their  emissaries  among  us  with  fire  and 
sword  to  levy  war,  and  teach  us  the  rules  of  morality. 
The  echoes  of  John  Brown's  guns  have  hardly  3'et  hushed 
their  reverberations  through  yonder  blue  hills,  and  the 
blood  of  our  massacred  citizens  is  hardly  dry  upon  the 
sacred  soil  of  Virginia,  and  now  to  crown  the  climax  they 
elect  to  be  our  master  the  man  who  declares  that  *  the 
time  has  come  when  the  Union  cannot  endure  half  slave 
and  half  free ; '  and  this — all  this — is  preached  as  the  cause 
of  m.orality  and  the  virtue  of  christian  humility.  My 
God  I  to  what  period  in  the  world's  liistory  does  such 
teaching  and  such  preaching  belong." 

Mr.  Reed  ceased  speaking,  but  continued  to  walk  the 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  14? 

floor,  with  his  hands  clinched  and  his  lips  compressed, 
exhibiting  the  most  intense  indignation.  He  continued 
his  walk  lor  some  moments  in  silence,  and  then  pausing 
turned  and  faced  the  company,  and  in  a  milder  tone 
said:  "  Yet  I  am  for  conciliation.  I  am  for  jieace.  I  am 
^for  the  Union  if  the  Union  can  be  saved.  If  it  were  a 
personal  matter  I  would  die  before  I  would  yield;  but  it 
is  for  my  country,  and  for  my  country  I  will  bear  the 
burthen.  The  fanatics  of  the  North  shall  not  destroy 
the  glorious  heritage  of  our  fathers  if  any  effort  or  any 
sacrifice  of  mine  can  save  it." 

"  Yes,  I  am  for  peace.  I  am  for  harmony.  I  am  for 
conciliation.  I  am  for  the  Union  on  constitutional 
grounds  and  honorable  terms.  I  want  no  discord,  and, 
above  all  things,  I  want  no  civil  war.  There  are  too 
many  good  and  true  men  at  the  North ;  too  many  high- 
minded,  honorable,  christian  gentlemen  ;  too  many  pure, 
noble,  patriotic  citizens  up  there,  who  love  truth  and 
justice,  and  who  hate  and  abhor  wrong  and  dishonesty, 
in  religion  and  in  politics,  too  well  to  suffer  the  blind 
passion  of  prejudice  and  the  mad  fanaticism  of  Black 
Republicanism  to  execute  such  designs  upon  the  institu- 
tions of  the  South  as  were  shadowed  forth  in  the  speech 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  inade  at  Springfield  and  that  of  Mr. 
Seward  made  at  Itoch ester." 

"Yes,  I  will  do  what  I  can  to  secure  harmony  and 
save  this  Union.  I  will  join  my  best  efforts  with  those 
of  my  friend  Thornton,  and  I  will  even  vie  with  him  in 
my  endeavors  to  assuage  the  angry  waters  that  are  now 
dashing  on  the  sea  of  passion." 

"  Doctor,  I  believe  in  my  heart  that  if  the  good,  true, 
patriotic,  Union-loving  people  of  the  North  and  South, 
who  really  desire  to  place  the  Union  upon  the  bed-rock 
of  constitutional  government,  and  right  and  truth  and 
justice  and  virtue  upon  the  everlasting  foundations  of 
christian  morality,  will  only  join  hands  even  now  and 


148  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

unite  our  hearts  in  one  firm,  faithful  endeavor,  we  can 
build  an  arch  over  this  widening  chasm  and  save  the 
glorious  structure  of  republican  constitutional  liberty." 

*'Then  let  us  not  only  write,  but  go  and  visit  our 
friends  in  the  Kortli.  Let  us  invoke  their  aid  and  co-ope- 
ration in  this  patriotic  work.  Let  the  North  hew  out  the 
keystone  for  the  arch  from  the  adamantine  rock  of  con- 
stitutional principles ;  and  let  the  South,  in  the  name  of 
Washington  who  fought,  and  Jefferson  who  wrote,  and 
Franklin  who  prayed,  place  it  in  position," 

"I  confess  I  have  a  moderate  amount  of  worldly  am- 
bition. I  desire  the  approbation  of  my  fellow-citizens 
and  the  sanction  and  approval  of  my  fellow-man;  but 
the  first  ambition  of  my  life  is  to  do  my  duty,  and  my 
highest  and  most  holy  desire  is  to  win,  through  christian 
faith,  the  crown  of  godliness.  But  if  in  the  eyes  of  Black 
Republicanism,  I  am  a  heathen  and  a  heretic,  a  despotic 
barbarian,  an  unfeeling,  inhuman  dog,  a  barterer  of 
christian  souls,  and  a  butcher  of  defenseless  slaves,  I  can- 
not help  it." 

"It  is  not  a  pleasant  thing  to  hear  yourself  abused, 
vilified,  cursed,  and  grossly  insulted,  but  it  is  a  sweet 
comfort  in  the  midst  of  it  all  to  feel  that  there  is  beating 
in  your  breast  a  true  heart  and  in  your  soul  there  is  a 
clear  conscience,  and  that  God  himself  is  the  final  judge 
of  the  rectitude  of  your  acts  and  the  deeds  of  your  hands. 
If  I  thought  African  slavery,  as  it  now  exists  in  the  South, 
wrong;  if  I  believed  it  productive  of  more  evil  than  good 
to  that  branch  of  the  human  race;  if  I  believed  that  im- 
mediate or  gradual  emancipation  would  tend  to  the  hap- 
piness, christianizing,  or  general  prosperity  of  the  Vir- 
ginia slaves,  I  would  bend  every  energy  of  my  body  and 
every  power  of  my  mind  to  hasten  and  secure  manumis- 
sion." 

"  But  I  believe  in  the  superiority  of  the  Caucasian  over 
the  African  race ;  I  believe  that  God  in  his  own  inscruta- 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  149 

ble  wisdom  made  it  so;  I  believe  that  the  natural  relation 
of  the  two  races,  where  mingling  together  under  the  same 
government,  is  that  of  master  and  servant;  I  believe  that 
what  is  natural  is  natural  because  it  has  the  impress  of 
God's  approval  upon  it,  and  what  God  approves  is  right, 
anything  to  the  contrary  that  Radical  Republicanism 
may  say  notwithstanding." 

"  The  people  of  the  North  seem  to  think  that  the  ques- 
tion of  African  slavery  at  the  South  is  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  the  question  of  dollars  and  cents;  and  they  are 
most  anxious  to  have  us  believe  that  the  doctrine  of 
abolitionism  is  the  conception  of  virtue,  wedded  to  a  high 
standard  of  moral  rectitude  and  nurtured  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  purifyiug,  unselfish,  humanity.  This  may  be 
true,  but  if  so,  it  does  seem  to  me  most  remarkable  that 
throughout  the  entire  christianized  world  wherever  the 
wings  of  civilization  have  wafted  the  leaves  of  American 
literature,  the  word  Yankee  is  a  synonym  for  close  dealing 
and  sharp  practice,  while  the  word  Southerner  carries 
with  it  the  idea  of  a  warm-hearted,  open-handed,  liberal- 
minded  people,  full  of  courage,  jealous  of  their  honor, 
and  possessed  of  unfained,  whole-souled,  genuine  hospi- 
tality." 

Mr.  Reed  paused  for  a  moment  and  looked  at  Dr.  Hall, 
and  then  smiling,  continued  : 

"  It  may  be  that  there  are  no  genuine  Yankees  in  the 
Republican  party,  and  that  the  106,353  citizens  of  ]\Iassa-' 
chusetts  who  voted  for  Mr.  Lincoln  are  all  humanitarians, 
while  the  5,939  fellows  who  voted  for  my  friend  Breckin- 
ridge, of  Kentucky,  are  the  Yankees  who  gave  old  ]\Ias- 
sachusetts  her  reputation." 

At  this  little  turn  of  humor  the  gentlemen  all  laughed, 
and  Mr.  Reed  said,  as  it  subsided,  "  Let's  retire  to  the 
sitting-room.  V/e  will  find  a  better  fire  there  and 
brighter  lights." 

The  gentlemen  took  seats  around  the  centre  table,  and 


150  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

Charles  asked  to  be  excused  for  reading  his  letters,  and 
turning  to  Mr.  Dodge,  said:  "This  one  is  from  our  friend 
Chester  Hemphill,  of  Columbia.  He  will  probably  give 
us  some  account  of  what  is  going  on  in  South  Carolina. 
You  Jemember  what  a  fascination  politics  possessed  for 
him." 

As  Charles  opened  the  letter,  which  was  quite  a  long 
one,  several  newspaper  clips  fell  out,  which  lie  picked  up 
and  held  in  his  hand,  while  lie  proceeded  to  read  the 
letter.  His  face  flushed  almost  the  instant  he  begun  the 
perusal,  which  Mr.  Dodge  noticed  and  asked : 

"What  is  it,  friend  Charles?  Let  us  have  the  impor- 
tant political  details  which  saddens  your  expression  and 
mantles  j-our  brow  with  the  flush  of  discontent." 

Dr.  Hall  and  Mr.  Reed  both  looked  at  Charles  and 
noted  his  agitation,  and  Dr.  Hall  said : 

"What  is  it,  Charles?  Head  aloud  if  it  is  political 
matter,  and  not  confidential." 

Whereupon  Charles  drew  a  little  nearer  to  the  lamp 
and  read  aloud : 

"Columbia,  S.  C,  November  8,  1860. 
"  My  Dear  Charles  : 

"  From  the  whirl  of  tumultuous  events  and  the  dash 
of  political  waters  by  which  I  am  surrounded,  I  will 
try  to  withdraw  myself  long  enough  to  write  you  a  few 
lines.  For  two  days  excitement  here  has  been  at  fever 
heat.  Bells  have  been  ringing,  cannon  have  been  firing, 
flags  have  been  waving,  crowds  have  been  gathering,  sol- 
diers marching  and  people  cheering,  while  statesmen  and 
orators  have  held  forth  from  a  thousand  rostrums.  But 
whether  this  outpouring  of  political  sentiment  and  this 
tolling  of  church  and  fire  bells  be  the  funeral  service  of  a 
dismembered  empire  or  the  joyful  exultation  over  the 
birth  of  a  nation  born  is  more  than  I  can  tell. 

"  For  my  part  I  do  not  seek  to  lift  the  veil  of  futu- 
lity.     Bat  it  is  evident  tlmt,  in   the  administration  of 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  151 

political  affairs,  we  have  arrived  at  the  initial  point  of  a 
new  departure. 

"  There  are  two  paths  before  lis,  and  upon  one  or  the 
other  of  these  we  are  bound  to  enter,  and  that  beyond  all 
question  and  cavil.  For  in  the  issue  which  must  now  be 
decided  there  can  be  no  delay,  no  middle  ground,  no 
evasion.  There  can  be  no  repose — no  slumbering  moment 
in  the  empire  of  change.  Mighty  events,  as  it  were,  are 
trembling  upon  a  pivot;  and  issues  as  vast  and  important 
are  now  to  be  decided  as  those  which  led  Csesar  to  cross 
the  Rubicon,  or  Alexander  to  plunge  into  the  foaming 
waters  of  the  Granicus.  All  that  is  dear,  all  that  is 
sacred,  all  that  is  precious  in  this  life,  now  lies  before  ils 
to  guard  and  protect,  life,  fortune,  name,  fame,  and  his- 
tory. For  weal  or  for  woe,  for  honor  or  for  shame,  the 
sacred  trust  is  now  committe.d  to  our  keeping." 

"Then,  in  brief,  what  is  the  question?  It  is,  shall  we 
do  our  duty,  so  that  those  who  come  after  us  shall  see  that 
we  were  not  unworthy  of  the  great  trust  confided  to  our 
care,  and  not  unequal  to  the  great  exigencies  by  which 
we  are  being  tried." 

"Above  all  things  let  the  whole  South  be  of  one  mind. 
We  are  agreed  as  to  our  wrongs.  Let  us  be  agreed  as  to 
our  remedy.  Let  us  sacrifice  our  personal  differences  and 
individual  prejudices  upon  the  sacred  altar  of  patriotism. 
In  the  glorious  circle  that  is  to  gather  around  the  fires  of 
liberty  and  watch  and  keep  its  flames  forever  bright  and 
pure,  let  the  whole  South  join  hands.  Then  despotism 
will  hide  away  ia  shame,  and  wrong  and  oppression  will 
cower  in  conscious  guilt.  With  the  principles  of  right  to 
stand  upon,  and  the  canopy  of  truth  and  justice  to  cover 
us,  and  the  God  of  nature  and  of  nations  to  inspire  our 
hearts  with  courage  and  fill  our  minds  with  wisdom  and 
understanding,  the  banner  of  the  South  will  be  the  ban- 
ner of  liberty,  the  battle  of  the  South  will  be  the  battle  of 
the  right,  and  the  cause  of  the  South  the  cause  of  victory." 


152  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

"In  all  the  circle  of  the  sun  its  bright  rays  shine  not 
upon  the  heads  of  a  more  God-fearing,  liberty-loving 
people.  Their  hearts  are  warmed  by  the  balmy  air  for 
good  and  for  glory,  and  in  this  golden  clime  their  spirits 
brighten  for  honorable  rivalry  and  deeds  of  daring." 

"I  will  not  in  this  brief  letter  undertake  to  set  forth 
the  WTongs  and  indignities  which  have  been  heaped  upon 
us.  They  are  all  too  well  known  to  you.  It  would  al- 
most be  an  insult  to  your  intelligence  to  name  them,  and 
a  rebuke  to  your  manhood  to  question  your  feeling  of 
resentment.  The  remedy  and  the  redress  are  the  only 
questions  open  for  consideration,  and  in  my  opinion  there 
can  be  but  one  adequate  redress." 

"Why  stand  upon  the  w^alls  of  the  citadel  and  shout 
Peace,  peace,  when  there  is  no  peace?  Why  '  lie  supine' 
upon  our  backs  '  hugging  the  delusive  phantom  of  hope,' 
,when  there  is  no  hope?  The  lines  of  the  enemy  are 
tightening  around  us  like  a  cordon.  AVhy  wait  until  we 
are  bound  fast  and  helpless?  The  galling  links  are 
pressing  into  our  very  flesh,  and  before  our  very  faces 
they  are  brandishing  the  torch  of  insult  and  the  flags  of 
defiance.  Can  the  South  submit?  Will  she  cower? 
Must  she  bend  the  suppliant  knee  ?  Shall  she,  like  a 
hungry  dog,  silently  beg  wdth  a  slobbering  mouth  the 
already  well-stripped  bone?  I  say  never — I  repeat  it, 
never — and  every  hill  and  valley,  from  Delaware  bay  to 
Florida  reefs,  will  echo  the  cry  and  send  back  the  swell- 
ing word,  never!" 

"But  I  have  said  enough.  I  grow  indignant  when  I 
contemplate  Black  Kepublican  effrontery.  I  will  close 
my  letter  and  go  and  play  a  game  of  croquet  with  my 
pet  sister,  May.  Her  bright  smile  and  gentle  voice  will 
cool  my  hot  blood  and  prove  to  me,  despite  Yankeedom, 
that  there  is  still  some  goodness  left  in  this  wicked  world 
of  ours." 


YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE.  153 

"  The  w  eatlier  is  perfectly  delightful  here.  The  air  is  as 
sweet  as  the  breath  of  sj^ring.  You  could  not  realize  that 
it  is  almost  the  middle  of  November." 

"I  send  you  several  clips  taken  from  our  morning 
papers.  You  know  that  our  Legislature  is  in  session  here 
now.  Yesterday  a  resolution  was  offered  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  calling  a  convention  to  meet  on  the  17th 
day  of  December,  The  clips  I  send  you  were  speeches 
made  pending  that  resolution.  They  wdll  stir  you  up 
some,  I  opine,  and  convince  you,  I  think,  that  all  the  hot 
blood  in  the  South  does  not  flow  in  the  veins  of  your 
true  friend  and  loving  classmate," 

''Chester  Hemphill." 

The  tone  and  temper  of  this  letter  could  not  be  mis- 
taken. It  was  eloquent  in  its  hot  indignation,  which  the 
writer  felt,  and  showed  much  force  of  thought  and  apt- 
ness of  expression,  and  manifested  a  keen  insight  into 
the  subtleties  of  human  nature.  It  touched  the  cords  of 
passion,  and  while  they  were  vibrating  with  strong  feeling 
it  rather  suggested  than  declared  which  course  was  proper 
to  pursue. 

When  Charles  ceased  reading,  the  silence  that  followed 
was  almost  painful.  Mr.  Reed  had  paid  the  closest  at- 
tention from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  letter.  He 
fully  understood  the  feeling  and  motive  of  the  writer, 
and  while  he  could  not  condemn  the  burning  indigna- 
tion which  seemed  to  light  up  in  every  word,  he  could 
not  approve  the  hot  haste  with  which  things  seemed  about 
to  be  precipitated.  The  accord  in  the  indignation  and 
the  discord  in  the  judgment  clashed  in  his  own  breast, 
and  became  painful. 

Charles  had  always  admired  the  genius  of  his  class- 
mate for  oratory,  and  oratory  is  ever  pleasing.  But  this 
letter,  eloquent  as  it  was,  had  given  him  more  pain  than 
pleasure,  while  Dr.  Hall  sat  silent  with  the  look  of  amaze- 


154  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

raent  on  his  face,  like  one  who  has  unexpectedly  received 
a  blow  which  may  or  may  iiot  be  intended  as  an  insult. 

Mr.  Dodge  was  silent  because  he  was  not  yet  certain 
what  would  be  the  proper  thing  to  say.  There  was  no 
ripple  started  on  the  waters  which  flowed  through  his 
heart;  genuine  emotion  would  have  been  as  much,  a 
stranger  in  his  breast  as  blooming  roses  on  the  ice-clad 
cliffs  of  Norway.  Yet  he  was  the  first  to  speak  and. 
break  the  silence,  and  with  that  divinity  of  luck  or  with 
that  stroke  of  genius  which  ever  seemed  to  hold  him  em- 
balmed in  the  fragrance  of  good  fortune,  he  said  the 
proper  thing: 

"That  letter  is  just  like  Chester  Hemphill.  I  think  I 
would  have  recognized  its  author  without  being  told  the 
name.  Few  men  of  his  age  are  so  gifted  in  the  powers 
of  expression,  and  none  that  I  have  ever  seen  are  so  grace- 
ful in  delivery.  He  will  make  a  most  brilliant  man  if 
he  lives,  unless  his  warm,  impulsive  nature  leads  him 
into  some  thoughtless  indiscretion.  But,  Charles,  let  us 
hear  what  the  clips  say.  We  may  find  food  for  reflection 
there." 

This  turning  of  the  attention  to  the  personal  charac- 
teristics of  Chester  Hemphill  and  away  from  the  subject 
matter  of  his  letter  was  most  opportune,  and  perhaps 
prevented  some  burst  of  indignation  from  Mr.  Reed. 

"Yes,"  said  Charles,  "the  clips  m.ay  serve  to  point  or 
suggest  the  path  of  duty.  Here,  Dodge,  you  read  them 
for  us,  and  if  they  prove  rhetorical,  as  Hemphill  seems  to 
imply,  we  can  profit  by  your  graceful  rendering." 

Mr.  Dodge  carelessly  took  the  clips  which  Charles 
handed  him,  as  though  he  had  not  heard  the  compli- 
mentary part  of  the  remark,  drew  his  chair  a  little  nearer 
to  the  light,  and  after  a  moment's  pause  in  order  to  secure 
full  attention  began  the  reading  of  the  clip,  which  proved 
to  be  a  speech  by  the  Hon.  McGowan  Khett. 


YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE.  155 

Mr.  Dodge  was  a  splendid  recader;  his  voice  was  clear, 
his  articulation  perfect,  and   his   enunciation   faultless. 
He  read  the  speech  with  great  effect.     Mr.  Khett  said : 
"ilir.  Speaker: 

**  The  resolution  before  the  House  is  to  the  effect  that 
a  convention  be  called  to  consider  the  exigencies  of  the 
times,  and  to  provide  such  remedies  for  the  evils  we 
suffer  and  such  redress  for  the  wrongs  we  bear  as  shall 
seem  meet  and  proper  to  the  sovereign,  independent  peo- 
ple of  South  Carolina." 

"I  am  for  the  convention  !  We  as  a  legislative  body, 
though  we  may  see  the  evil  and  may  feel  the  wrong, 
have  no  power  to  employ  the  remedy,  nor  apply  the 
redress  which  I  think  the  circumstances  demand.  In  my 
humble  opinion,  Mr.  Speaker,  there  is  but  one  adequate 
remedy — I  speak  it  to  the  hearing  of  the  whole  civilized 
world — there  is  but  one  sure,  certain  and  effectual  rem- 
edy ;  and  if  that  remedy,  that  redress,  be  a  secret,  I  take 
into  my  bosom  as  my  special  confidants  to-night  the 
forty  millions  of  human  souls  that  now  live  under  the 
government  of  the  United  States  of  America.  For  forty 
years  tlie  people  of  the  South  have  asked  of  that  gov- 
ernment and  the  people  of  the  North  that  the  constitu- 
tion may  be  construed  in  accordance  with,  its  express 
provisions  and  not  in  accordance  with  prejudiced  impli- 
cations and  sectional  selfish,  aims.  For  forty  years  the 
people  of  the  South  have  asked  that  the  rights  guaran- 
teed by  the  constitution  shall  be  respected — rights  ever 
admitted — never  denied  even  by  the  blackest  Black 
Republican  that  ever  blackened  with  his  black  record 
the  black  pages  of  Radical  fanaticism ;  and  ior  forty 
years  selfishness  under  the  cloak  of  religion,  and  per- 
sonal aims  under  the  garb  of  humanity,  have  ridiculed 
the  demand  and  laughed  to  scorn  the  most  reasonable 
request.  From  year  to  year  for  forty  years  these  spotless 
li  umanitarians — these  saintly-souied  socialists — virtuous 


156  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

vituperators — have  grown  bolder  and  bolder  in  their 
approaches,  and  viler  and  viler  in  their  vituperation,  and 
more  and  more  defiant  in  their  encroachment  upon  the 
constitution,  until  in  the  arrogance  of  their  slimy  souls 
they  preach  it  to  the  world  that  it  is  their  divine  mission 
to  christianize  the  South  and  root  out  from  our  minds 
the  seeds  of  "semi-barbarism"  and  the  "hellish  heathenism 
of  African  slavery."  They  sent  their  ships  to  the  shores 
of  Africa ;  they  enticed  with  sugar  and  shiny  shackles 
the  poor  negro  on  board  their  boats ;  then  sailed  away 
for  the  sunny  land  of  the  South,  and  here  sold  the  jab- 
bering black  man  to  bless  him  with  christian  knowledge ; 
got  the  glittering  gold,  hied  to  their  homes  in  moral  Mas- 
sachusetts, washed  their  hands,  changed  their  clothes  to 
clean  out  the  smell  of  contamination,  shut  their  doors 
and  went  to  the  upper  windows  of  their  mighty  man- 
sions, looked  to  the  South,  and  cried,  '  You  slave-driver ! 
You  slave-killer !  You  barterer  of  human  flesh  !  You 
debaser  of  human  souls ! '  And  after  all  this,  Mr. 
Speaker,  we  of  the  South  are  expected  to  sit  still  and  be 
schooled  in  the  catechism  of  political  morals  by  Yankee- 
doodledum.  We  call  upon  them  to  keep  the  provisions 
of  the  Constitution,  and  yield  up  to  us  the  fugitive  slave 
which  they  once  sold  us  but  now  hide,  and  they  throw  up 
their  hands  in  holy  horror  and  cry,  '  We  can't  do  it ;  we 
can't  do  it ;  it  would  be  a  sin  ;  we  know  the  constitution 
says  we  must,  but  the  constitution  was  made  a  long  time 
ago,  when  our  ships  were  engaged  in  the  African  slave 
trade ;  was  made  when  the  North  owned  slaves  and  little 
negroes  passed  current  for  change.  But  we  are  better 
now ;  we  are  more  moral,  more  patriotic,  got  a  bigger 
bump  of  humanity,  got  more  religion,  and  feel  a  change 
of  heart.*  My  God  I  Better  than  their  forefathers,  Mr. 
Speaker,  who  made  the  constitution !  More  moral,  more 
patriotic  than  the  men  who  resisted  the  stamp  act,  who 
dashed  the  tea  into  the  surging  sea,  who  rushed  to  Lex- 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  157 

ington  and  rallied  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill!  Braver, 
truer,  nobler,  purer  than  the  men  wliose  bleeding  feet 
stained  red  the  snows  of  Delaware  and  faced  the  storm 
of  battle  at  the  fords  on  the  Brandy  wine  I  'Tis  a  sub- 
terfuge, Mr.  Speaker,  a  mean,  base,  cowardly  subter- 
fuge, to  hide  the  serpent  of  selfishness  that  lurks  in  the 
shadows  of  slavery  restriction." 

"We  ask  them  to  construe  the  constitution  strictly 
according  to  the  wording  of  the  instrument,  and  give  us 
protection  to  our  institutions  in  the  territories.  They 
say,  *  Oh,  no  I  we  want  that  reserved  for  free-soil  emigra- 
tion societies.  The  iniquity  of  slavery  must  never  be 
allowed  to  go  there,  else  our  emigrants  might  be  contami- 
nated.' We  ask  them  to  abide  by  the  decision  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  as  set  forth  in  the  Dred 
Scott  case,  and  old  Horace  Greeley,  their  Magnus  Apollo, 
tells  us  in  good  plain  English,  'We  w^on't  do  it,' and 
assigns  as  his  reason  that  'neither  Chief  Justice  Taney 
nor  any  of  the  six  associate  judges  who  agreed  with  him 
were  ever  presumed  to  be  qualified,  either  by  nature  or 
attainments,  for  judicial  eminence,  and  that  the  Chief 
Justice  in  rendering  the  decision  defied  both  history  and 
common  sense.'  And  Salmon  P.  Chase,  of  Ohio,  with 
more  candor,  more  decency  and  more  principle,  has  told 
us  plainly  and  emphatically  that  the  Republican  party 
could  not  and  would  not  obey  that  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court. 

"Then,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  ask  in  the  name  of  all  that  is 
high  and  holy  what  are  we  to  do?  We  have  appealed 
to  their  honor;  they  reply  with  mocking  scorn.  We 
have  pointed  to  the  constitution,  and  they  say  'tis  a 
covenant  with  the  devil.  We  appeal  to  the  courts,  and 
they  treat  the  decision  w^ith  more  contempt  than  they 
treat  the  Pope's  manifesto  fulminated  against  the  comet. 
The  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  is  as  impotent  to 
protect   us   against   the   overflow  of   Black  Republican 


158  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

prejudice  as  was  the  order  of  Kiog  Canute  to  slay  the 
tides  that  rolled  upoa  the  beach.  If  they  will  not  obey 
the  constitutiou ;  if  they  will  not  obey  the  voice  of 
justice;  if  they  will  not  keep  the  covenant  made  by 
Washington  and  Adams  and  Morris  and  Hamilton  and 
Jefferson  and  such  men  who  lived  during  'the  days  that 
tried  men's  souls/  we  would  be  recreant  to  every  prin- 
ciple of  manhood  if  we  bowed  our  heads  and  bent  our 
knees  in  humble  supplication  and  still  bared  our  backs 
for  the  lash.  Shall  we  do  it?  Never!  never  I  I  cry. 
This  scene  that  greets  me  here  to-night  tells  me  that  the 
sons  of  Carolina  are  yet  brave,  and  a  voice  whispers  in 
my  ear  that  Southern  chivalry  is  not  yet  gone.  From 
the  mountains  to  the  seaboard  South  Carolina  is  heaving 
with  nnsuppressed  indignation.  From  her  hills  and 
heights  the  shout  of  defiance  goes  np  ;  and  down  through 
her  valleys  and  over  her  plains  the  resounding  echoes 
roll  until  the  mighty  voice  of  defiance  mingles  w^ith  the 
roar  of  the  wrathful  ocean." 

"All  over  this  land  the  people  are  aroused,  and  they 
speak  now  with  no  nncertaiu  sound.  In  the  Union  or 
out  of  the  Union  we  mean  to  have  our  rights,  and  not 
one  jot  nor  one  tittle  shall  they  abate.  In  the  Union  for 
forty  years-  we  have  sought  them,  begged  for  them, 
prayed  for  them,  sought  them  in  the  council  and  before 
the  courts,  sought  them  in  the  forum  of  reason  and  on 
the  plains  of  tlie  political  arena,  sought  them  with  the 
soul  of  earnestness  and  the  tongue  of  eloquence;  but 
petitions  and  pleadings  and  prayers  all  alike  have  been 
as  *  sweets  wasted  on  the  desert  air,'  or,  what  is  worse,  lost 
amid  the  selfish  souls  of  deaf  fanaticism. 

"Our  forbearance  has  not  been  counted  to  us  for  right- 
eousness nor  our  prayers  for  justification.  They  have 
mocked  at  our  calamity  and  laughed  when  our  fear 
Cometh.  They  love  neither  the  constitution  nor  the 
Union,  else  they  would  obey  the  one  and  try  to  preserve 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  159 

the  other.  They  recognize  no  precedent  nor  reverence 
any  principle.  They  construe  the  constitution  and 
administer  the  government  not  by  the  law  which  has 
been  decided  by  the  courts,  not  by  the  practice  of  the 
fathers  of  our  country,  not  by  the  rules  laid  down  by  the 
framers  of  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land  and  the 
patriots  who  guided  the  affairs  of  the  nation  seventy 
years  ago,  but  by  rules  drawn  from  their  blind  passion 
and  debased  by  their  partisan  prejudices." 

"  I  give  New  England  credit  for  what  she  has  done. 
She  has  conquered  a  sterile  soil.  She  has  conquered  an 
uncongenial  climate.  She  has  conquered  the  waves  and 
the  winds  and  chained  the  blue  lightning's  flash,  but  she 
has  yet  to  learn  to  conquer  her  passions  and  subdue  her 
prejudices.  Go  preach  repentance  to  the  swarthy  mum- 
mies of  the  Egyptian  catacombs.  Go  sing  psalms  to  the 
grinning  skulls  of  Golgotha,  but  spare  yourself  the  fur- 
ther waste  of  breath  preaching  conciliation  to  the  stone 
deaf  ears  of  Black  Republicanism." 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  is  there  one  in  this  hall,  is  there  one  in 
this  State,  is  there  one  in  all  the  South,  so  blinded  by 
hope  as  to  believe  that  the  political  wave  which  has  swept 
every  Northern  State  into  the  gulf  of  Black  Republican- 
ism can  now  be  stopped  or  rolled  back  by  the  gentle 
breeze  of  Southern  conciliation?  No,  ]\Ir.  Speaker'.  Mr. 
Lincoln  himself  has  made  the  issue  plain,  'These  States 
shall  be  all  slave  or  all  free  labor,'  is  the  text  of  his  politi- 
cal creed;  and  the  safety  of  our  institutions, the  honor  of 
our  name  and  the  glory  of  our  past  history  demand  that 
we  shall  take  up  the  gage  which  he  has  tendered.  Lib- 
erty which  the  constitution  guaranteed  is  the  liberty 
which  we  asked;  liberty  which  the  constitution  pledged 
is  the  liberty  they  deny.  The  constitutional  pledge 
refused  is  the  constitution  violated ;  the  constitution  vio- 
lated is  the  Constitution  broken ;  a  constitution  broken  is 
a  covenant  not  binding  upon  the  innocent  party.     Who 


160  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

is  -^villing  to  stand  bound  by  a  broken  covenant?  Wlio  is 
"willing  to  stand  and  take  the  lash  of  correction  when 
endurance  ceases  to  be  a  virtue  and  has  become  the  badge 
of  dishonor?  " 

"From  our  fathers  we  received  the  glorious  escutcheon 
of  South  Carolina  without  a  spot  and  without  a  blemish. 
Then  let  "US  remit  it  to  our  posterity  immaculate  as  the 
shining  shield  of  Minerva.  Not  a  vote  in  South  Carolina 
haff  been  cast  to  make  Abraham  Lincoln  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  not  a  voice  will  be  raised  to  proclaim 
him  our  chief  magistrate.  Then  what  is  our  duty?  Call 
the  convention  and  let  the  sovereign  people  of  South 
Carolina  speak;  and  her  brave  sons,  with  one  mind  and 
one  spirit,  will  obey  her  high  behest." 

When  Mr.  Dodge  finished  reading  this  speech,  so  full 
of  indignant  feeling  toward  the  abolitionists  of  the  North, 
and  so  full  of  manly  courage  and  fixedness  of  purpose, 
and  so  full  of  determination  to  do  that  which  the  speaker 
conscientiously  believed  to  be  his  duty,  Mr.  Reed  arose 
excitedly  and  walked  back  and  forth  across  the  room. 
The  working  muscles  of  his  face  and  compressed  lips 
bliowed  plainly  the  deep  feelings  which  were  struggling 
in  his  breast  for  mastery.  All  eyes  were  turned  upon 
him,  awaiting,  in  silent  expectation,  to  hear  his  comments. 
For  a  moment  he  seemed  oblivious  of  all  present,  and 
then,  perceiving  that  he  was  expected  to  speak,  walked 
up  to  Mr.  Dodge  and  said,  "Well,  what  more?  Let  us 
have  it  all."  Whereupon  Mr.  Dodge  read  the  comments 
of  the  editor  of  the  paper,  which  were,  in  effect,  that  Mr. 
Khett's  speech  had  created  a  profound  sensation  in  the 
House  and  had  been  greeted  by  prolonged  applause. 

Mr.  Dodge  then  read  the  next  speech,  which,  was  made 
by  Judge  William  Hemphill,  the  brother  of  Chester 
Hemphill,  which,  though  not  quite  so  passionate,  was  no 
less  firm  in  a>  fixed  determination  not  to  submit  to  fur- 
ther wiongs. 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  161 

Judge  Hemphill  made  a  strong  appeal  for  co-operation, 
and,  speaking  to  the  pending  resolution  for  a  call  for  a 
convention,  said: 

"Mr.  Speaker,  I  agree  with  the  distinguished  gentleman 
who  has  so  eloquently  addressed  the  House,  in  much  that 
he  has  said,  if  not  in  all  that  he  has  so  forcibly  expressed. 
I  am  not  sure  that  there  is  any  real  difference  of  opinion 
between  us  upon  the  all-absorbing  subject  which  now 
claims  the  attention  of  the  House.  In  the  recognition  of 
the  wrongs  which  we  have  suffered,  the  indignation  which 
I  feel  and  the  redress  we  ought  to  seek,  he  has  but 
expressed  my  feelings  and  the  opinions  which  I  enter- 
tain." 

"But,  Mr.  Speaker,  in  regard  to  the  time  and  manner 
of  the  redress,  I  think  there  is  a  difference  between  us, 
and  it  is  to  this  difference  I  shall  address  my  remarks. 
South  Carolina  is  not  the  only  member  of  the  Union  that 
has  rights  to  defend  and  wrongs  to  redress.  The  whole 
South  is  interested  in  this  matter;  and,  in  my  opinion, 
the  whole  South  ought  to  join  in  concert  of  action.  'In 
a  multiplicity  of  counsel  there  is  much  wisdom.'  In 
unity  of  purpose  there  is  force  of  determination  and  in 
concert  of  action  there  is  much  strength." 

*'Co-operation  has  been  the  fixed  policy  of  South  Caro- 
lina for  the  last  fifty  years,  and  we  should  not  now,  with- 
out full  consideration  and  special  cause,  turn  aside  from 
that  policy.  We  have  long  been  satisfied  that  the  tend- 
ency of  the  North  to  encroach  upon  our  rights  would  ulti- 
mately drive  us  to  seek  safety  and  the  protection  of  our 
institutions  in  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  We  h-ave  seen 
what  was  coming,  and  have  awaited  the  concert  of  action 
of  our  sister  States  of  the  South.  Then  it  would  be 
strange,  now  that  the  issue  is  upon  us — now  when  our 
need  is  the  most  urgent — that  we  should  ignore  our  past 
policy  in  the  very  crisis  of  our  conflict,  and  cease  to  ask 
co-operation.  We  have  more_nee,d,_more  inducements, 
11 


162  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

more  necessities  for  co-operation  than  any  people  who 
have  lived  in  all  the  tide  of  time.  We  of  the  South  are 
as  one  in  soil  and  climate,  one  in  productions  and  prac- 
tice, one  in  institutions,  one  in  principles  and  more  than 
one  in  wrongs  under  the  constitution,  and  we  ought  to 
be  one  in  our  redress  and  one  in  the  remedy  we  employ. 

"The  history  of  the  world  is  full  of  admonitions  as  to 
the  necessity  of  co-o2:)eration.  Classic  Greece,  dismem- 
bered Poland  and  modern  Italy  cry  out  the  warning  for 
united  action;  and  ill-fated  Mexico  lifts  her  tear-bedewed 
eyes  and  her  hands  stained  with  her  own  blood  in  attest- 
ation of  the  principle.  Let  us  unite  the  whole  South  in 
one  grand  confederacy.  Let  us  enlist  the  hearts  and  join 
the  hands  of  all  the  brave  people  who  have  suffered 
wrong  at  the  instance  of  abolition  encroachments.  Then 
our  flag  will  float  honored  on  every  sea,  our  banner  will 
flutter  triumiDhant  in  every  breeze,  and  our  every  citizen, 
as  he  stands  beneath  the  sacred  folds  of  the  glorious 
ensign,  will  feel  sure  of  protection  and  safe  from  oppres- 
sion. 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  South  Carolina  has  been  accused  of  an 
undue  desire  to  lead  the  councils  of  the  South.  Let  us 
repel  by  our  action  the  unfounded  accusation ;  let  us  take 
no  false  step ;  let  us  omit  nothing  that  might  tend  to 
make  our  efforts  more  certain  and  assure  us  success.  It 
will  strengthen  our  arms  and  inspire  our  hearts  if  we 
can  feel  that  our  action  is  the  action  of  determination 
and  our  cause  the  cause  of  co-operation.  Let  us  in  good 
faith  and  with  all  due  lespect  ask  co-operation  of  our 
Southern  sisters  Then  if  we  shall  fail  in  that,  and  a 
convention  is  called,  we  will  stand  by  the  action  of  that 
convention  as  one  man.  And  if  South  Carolina,  by 
such  a  convention,  shall  deliberately  decide  to  secede  from 
the  Union  separate  and  alone,  with  or  without  co-opera- 
tion ;  shall  cut  herself  loose  from  her  old  moorings  and 
launch  her  bark  on  the  wide  seas  of  nationality,  I  will 


YANKEE   DOODLE  DIXIE.  163 

be  one  of  the  crew,  and  in  common  with  every  true  son  of 
Carolina  will  endeavor,  with  all  the  powers  that  God  has 
given  me,  to  spread  all  her  canvas  to  the  breeze — 

"  *  Sot  every  thread-bare  sail, 

And  give  her  to  tlio  god  of  storms, 
The  lightniug  and  the  gale.' 

"  I  recognize,  Mr.  Speaker,  no  allegiance  paramount  to 
that  which  the  citizens  of  South  Carolina  owe  to  the  State 
of  their  birth  or  their  adoption.  I  now  here  declare,  and 
with  it  let  it  be  distinctly  understood,  that  I  hold  myself 
bound  by  the  highest  obligation  to  obey  the  mandate  or 
behest  of  my  native  State  ;  and  my  obedience  shall  be  as 
earnest  as  my  love  for  her  is  warm.  And  if  the  sacred 
soil  of  South  Carolina  shall  be  polluted  by  the  footsteps 
of  an  invader,  or  be  stained  by  the  blood  of  her  citizens 
shed  in  her  defense,  I  trust  to  Almighty  God  that  no  son 
of  hers,  native  or  adopted,  who  has  been  nurtured  at  her 
bosom  or  cherished  by  her  bounty,  will  be  found  raising 
a  parricidal  arm  against  our  common  mother.  And  even 
should  she  stand  alone  in  this  great  struggle  for  cousti- 
tutional  liberty  I  trust  that  there  will  not  be  found  in  all 
the  wide  limits  of  the  State  one  recreant  son  who  will 
not  fly  to  the  rescue,  and  be  ready  if  need  be  to  lay 
down  even  his  life  in  her  defense.  I  feelthat  South  Caro- 
lina cannot  be  drawn  down  from  her  proud  eminence 
except  by  the  hand  of  her  own  children.  But  if  I  mis- 
judge her  strength,  and  she  be  destined  to  fail,  after 
making  the  efforts  due  to  her  honor  and  the  great  cause 
she  shall  undertake,  the  bitter  fruits  of  that  failure  will 
attest  her  virtue,  and  her  heroic  efforts  in  that  cause  will 
leave  the  names  of  her  martyred  slain  embalmed  in  the 
memory  of  immortality." 

"  South  Carolina  will  not  wait  for  co-operation,"  said 
Mr.  Eeed,  as  Mr.  Dodge  laid  down  the  paper.  "  I  see  it 
in  the  earnestness  of  that  appeal.  I  cannot  blame  her, 
and  yet  I  feel  in  my  heart  it  would  be  best  if  she  could 


164  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

be  induced  to  wait  for  some  act  of  the  incoming  admin- 
istration which  would  show  what  policy  they  propose." 

"  I  agree  with  you,  father,"  said  Charles.  "  She  will 
not  wait.  She  seems  to  covet  the  glory  of  being  the  first 
to  secede,  but  I  believe  she  is  guided  in  the  matter  by  her 
confident  belief  that  she  will  be  followed  by  the  other 
Southern.  States.  I  hate  to  see  this  Union  broken  up. 
I  have  been  taught  by  3^ou,  father,  from  my  very  child- 
hood to  love  the  Union  and  to  look  upon  it  with  pride. 
I  never  read  the  history  of  the  Revolution,  but  I  feel  my 
heart  glow  with  patriotism.  If  the  citizens  of  the  New 
England  and  Northern  States  loved  right  and  truth  and 
justice  and  virtue,  and  hated  tyranny  and  oppression  as 
they  did  in  the  days  they  met  to  resist  the  stamp  act, 
and  to  covenant  not  to  use  or  purchase  British  wares, 
there  would  be  no  violated  constitution.  If  they  were 
as  little  disposed  to  interfere  with  the  institutions  of  the 
South  now  as  they  were  then  not  to  allow  the  British 
government  to  interfere  with  theirs,  there  would  be  no 
cause  for  secession. 

"Why  can't  they  leave  the  South  to  look  after  her  own 
morals  and  to  control  her  own  institutions  and  to  admin- 
ister her  own  domestic  affairs  in  her  own  way?  Why 
do  they  feel  called  upon  to  agitate  the  question  of  eman- 
cipation? And  above  all  things,  by  what  strange  rules 
of  humanity  are  they  governed  when  they  send  down 
their  secret  emissaries  and  incendiary  circulars  inciting 
domestic  insurrection.  I  cannot  understand  it!  Indeed, 
I  cannot  understand  it!  If  African  slavery  appears  to 
them  such  a  terrible  wrong,  and  they  in  any  v/ay  feel 
that  they  are  resjrjonsible  for  the  evil,  wh}^  do  they  not 
take  some  more  christian-likc  way  to  correct  the  sin? 
Why  attempt  it  by  abuse,  by  curses,  by  scurrility,  and  even 
by  insurrection  and  war,  as  John  Brown  did  v/hen  he 
invaded  Virginia,  and  who,  when  overcome  and  captured, 
was  made  the  special  object  of  sympathizing  mass-meet- 


YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE.  l65 

ings  all  over  the  North?  They  never  seem  to  stop  and 
consider  either  the  nature  or  the  characteristics  of  the 
colored  race  nor  the  circumstances  which  would  attend 
emancipation.  Can  they  be  such  blind  pursuers  after 
one  idea  as  not  to  see  the  consequences  which  would 
inevitably  flow  from  their  acts,  even  if  they  should  be 
successful.  It  is  a  law  of  the  political,  moral,  social  and 
physical  world  that  where  opposing  powders  meet  and 
clash,  the  greater  must  prevail.  Intelligence  will  tri- 
umph, over  ignorance;  right  will  triumph  over  wrong; 
the  refined  will  triumph  over  the  coarse,  and  the  strong 
will  triumph  over  the  weak.  If  the  two  races  are  sepa- 
rate and  distinct;  if  they  ought  not  and  cannot  and  wi*ll 
not  intermarry  and  become  as  one  race,  they  must  remain 
separate  and  distinct;  and  they  can  no  more  live  under 
the  same  government  as  separate  and  distinct  races  with- 
out representing  separate  and  distinct  powers  than  you 
can  mingle  pure  water  and  oil  in  the  same  vessel  and  bid 
them  coalesce.  And  I  think,  for  the  people  of  the  North 
to  instil  in  the  minds  of  the  slaves  the  notion  of  freedom 
is  only  tending  to  array  the  w-eaker  race  against  the 
stronge.r  and  inaugurate  a  war  of  opinions,  if,  indeed,  not 
a  war  of  fire  and  sword;  and  sooner  or  later  the  white 
race  w411  drive  out  the  black.  There  are  some  States  in 
the  Union  in  which  the  black  race  is  more  numerous  than 
the  white,  and  there  are  many  counties  in  Virginia  in 
which  the  negro  race  largely  predominates.  In  cases  of 
this  kind  what  is  to  be  done?  If  the  negro  is  first  to  be 
emancipated  and  thenenfranchised,  what  will  betheccn- 
sequence?  They  would  be  sure  to  vote  the  same  ticket, 
and  thus  the  color  line  would  become  the  party  line  and 
the  two  forces  would  inevitably  clash.  And  right  here  I 
would  like  to  ask  if  the  Republicans  of  the  North,  in  their 
wildest  dream  of  misguided  humanity,  have  ever  for  one 
moment  supposed  that  tlie  white  man  will  submit  to  be 
ruled  and  governed  by  the  negro  race?" 


166  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

"Right,  my  son;  you  are  right  there,"  said  Mr.  Reed. 
"That  is  the  keynote  to  the  whole  Southern  sentiment. 
African  slavery  is  far,  ver^^  far,  from  being  the  profitable 
institution  the  North  think  it  is,  else  why  have  the  people 
of  the  North  grown  so  much  richer  than  the  people  of  the 
South?  Why  have  they  been  able  to  build  so  many 
magnificent  cities  and  construct  so  many  internal  im- 
provements? These  things  are  the  evidences  of  prosper- 
ity, and  they  show  wdiere  the  money  is.  I  own  almost  a 
hundred  slaves,  and  I  require  all  of  them,  who  are  able, 
to  work,  and  they  do  work,  and  I  will  say  cheerfully  and 
faithfully;  but  it  takes  all  they  make,  and  about  all  that 
I  make  besides,  to  supply  them  with  food  and  clothing, 
to  build  them  cabins  and  pay  their  doctors'  bills.  What 
the  young,  able-bodied  men  and  women  make  go  to  sup- 
port the  children  and  the  superannuated. 

"I  love  my  servants,  and  sincerely  believe  that  they 
love  me  in  return;  but  I  am  no  devotee  to  slavery.  I 
know  that  there  are  some  mean  masters;  but  this  ought 
not  to  bo  considered  good  cause  to  condemn  the  institu- 
tion, for  tliere  are  some  mean  fathers  and  husbands; 
some  men  wdio  can't  be  anything  but  mean.  Shall  we 
for  that  reason  condemn  the  marriage  contract  and  fly  to 
free  love?  Hardly.  I  believe  the  relation  of  master  and 
servant,  like  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife,  is  produc- 
tive of  far  more  good  than  evil.  I  will  challenge  the 
wh-ole  of  Yankeedom  to  name  a  class  of  laboring  ]>eople 
where  the  men,  w^omen  and  children,  old  and  young,  are 
so  well  fed,  so  well  clothed,  so  well  sheltered  and  so  well 
Inedically  attended  as  the  slaves  of  the  South.  There  are 
more  half- starving  women  and  children  among  the  fami- 
lies of  the  poorly-paid  laborers  of  tlie  North  to-day  tlian 
there  are  hungry  servants  in  the  South.  The  negroes  of 
the  South  eat  more  bread,  and  far  more  meat,  than  do 
the  citizens  of  Germany,  with  all  her  refinement  and  with 
all  her  intelligence.     And  the  statistics  show  that  there 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  167 

are  fewer  children  born  in  the  South  outside  of  the 
bonds  of  wedlock,  even  among  the  slaves,  than  there  are 
in  Paris,  the  city  of  chivalry  and  the  city  of  fashion.  I 
need  not  speak  of  Ireland,  for  the  world  knows  that  tlie 
laboring  people  of  'the  Emerald  Isle,'  as  it  is  called,  live 
for  the  most  part  on  dry  bread  and  cold  potatoes. 

"But  enough  of  this  for  one  night.  I  must  be  off  for 
Richmond  early  in  the  morning;  and  I  must  write  friend 
Thornton  at  least  a  short  lettt^r  before  I  start,  and  assure 
him  of  my  willingness  to  join  most  heartily  in  the  course 
he  has  kindly  suggested. 

"I  see  that  there  is  no  hope  of  checking  South  Carolina 
in  her  determination  to  secede,  so  we  must  turn  our  atten- 
tion to  the  North,  and  do  what  we  can  to  prevent  any 
overt  act  that  will  tend  to  widen  the  breach.  And  if  we 
do  not  fail  in  this,  I  trust  that  South  Carolina  can  be 
brought  back  into  the  Union,  even  though  she  may 
secede. 

"  Virginia  must  stand  and  arbitrate  between  the  two 
extremes,  for  I  believe  if  the  Union  is  saved,  the  salva- 
tion must  be  the  work  of  this  grand  old  Commonwealth. 
Dear  old  State!  May  God  bless  her,  and  give  her  power 
and  wisdom  and  influence  while  truth  may  yet  have  its 
attractions  and  reason  controls  the  judgment  of  men. 

"You  will  excuse  me,  gentlemen;  I  must  go  and  write 
to  Thornton.  I  will  ask  him  to  meet  me  in  Richmond. 
We  will  go  North,  and  we  will  do  what  we  can  in  the 
cause  of  peace,  good  will,  harmony  and  conciliation." 

Mr.  Reed  then  invited  Dr.  Hall  to  spend  the  night;  but 
the  doctor  declined,  saying  he  had  one  more  professional 
visit  to  make,  and  must  be  riding — and  he  took  his 
departure.  Mr.  Dodge  at  the  same  time  passed  out  and 
went  to  his  room. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

WHEN  Colonel  Moore  reached  his  sitting-room,  after 
his  somewhat  unceremonious  withdrawal  he  took 
his  seat  in  the  big  old  arm-chair  and  gave  himself  up  to 
reflections.  The  fire  had  burned  low  on  the  hearth  and 
formed  a  heap  of  smouldering  coals,  giving  forth  more 
heat  than  light,  thus  leaving  the  room  in  semi-darkness. 
A  servant  who  had  seen  him  enter  the  room,  followed 
him  and  started  to  light  the  lamp,  but  the  Colonel  looked 
up  and  perceiving  her  purpose  turned  to  her  and  said: 
"Thank  you,  Mary,  I  believe  I  would  rather  you  do 
not  light  the  lamp  just  yet.  I  do  not  feel  quite  well ;  the 
light  would  be  unpleasant  to  my  eyes.  I  will  sit  here 
and  enjoy  the  fire ;  I  like  the  firelight  best  at  this  hour. 
I  will  call  you  if  I  need  you." 

The  good  old  servant  felt  dismissed  and  quietly  with- 
drew from  the  room,  but  not  without  noticing  the  sad, 
subdued  tone  in  which  her  master  had  addressed  her. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Colonel,  speaking  half  aloud  to  him- 
self;  "  I  like  the  firelight,  and  especially  at  this  hour  of 
the  day.  These  fading  fires,  that  flickering  flame,  speak 
to  me  in  unmistakable  terms.  They  teach  me  an  impor- 
tant lesson ;  they  tell  nie  it  matters  not  how  bright  the 
lamp  of  life  may  burn,  it,  too,  must  some  day  pale  and 
flicker  in  the  socket ;  and  somehow  I  feel  that  the  lamp 
of  life  does  not  burn  so  brightly  with  me  of  late  as  in 
days  gone  by.  I  do  not  feel  sick,  but  I  do  not  feel  as 
strong  as  I  used  to  feel ;  and  somehow  I  seem  to  live 
more  in  the  past  than  in  the  future.  This  has  been 
especially  the  case  for  the  last  few  days,  and  they  say 
this  is  the  sign  of  the  beginning  of  the  end." 

When  the  bell  sounded  for  supper  Colonel  Moore 
excused  himself,  and  said  he  did  not  care  for  anything. 
(168) 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  169 

He  said  he  would  retire  early ;  so  when  Helen  came  to 
say  good-niglit  she  found  his  door  locked  and  the 
room  dark,  but  the  Colonel  was  sitting  by  the  fire 
silent,  thoughtful,  serious!}''  meditative.  Long  he  sat 
watching  the  lights  and  shadows  made  on  the 
smouldering  coals  as  the  fire  burned  lower  and  lower 
on  the  hearth.  He  was  thinking.  The  strange  con- 
versation he  had  held  with  Mr.  Dodge  that  afternoon 
had  first  excited  his  mind  and  then  saddened  his 
thoughts.  Supernatural  agencies  he  had  ever  regarded 
as  myths.  It  could  not  be  said  that  he  had  thought  very 
much  on  the  subject,  for  he  considered  it  too  trivial  for 
serious  attention.  That  the  power  to  call  up  the  spirits 
of  departed  friends  for  the  purpose  of  revealing  the  secret 
things  of  the  past  or  the  hidden  things  of  the  future  by 
one  who  practiced  the  trick  for  pay  was  to  him  too  absurd 
to  engage  his  practical  thoughts.  Far  back  in  the  pre- 
historic days,  before  the  waters  of  the  deluge  covered  the 
earth,  such  things  may  have  been  done;  and  even  since 
then,  on  down  through  the  period  of  the  Patriarchs  and 
the  Prophets  and  the  days  of  Apostolic  teaching  and 
preaching,  God  in  His  own  wisdom  had  seen  fit  to  point 
out  the  future  in  dreams  prophetic,  and  given  warning 
to  the  wicked  in  the  midst  of  revelry  and  song  of  danger 
near  at  hand  and  of  death  almost  at  the  door.  He  knew 
the  history  of  Babylon  ;  the  story  of  the  handwriting  on 
the  wall;  Belshazzar's  scepter  like  his  cup  had  dropped 
from  his  nerveless  grasp,  and  his  life  like  his  soul  had 
been  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting;  the 
witch  of  Endor  had  called  np  the  spirit  of  Samuel  to 
speak  to  Saul,  and  Daniel  had  told  King  Nebuchadnezzar 
the  interpretation  of  his  wonderful  dream.  But  this  was 
God's  work  to  will  and  to  do  according  to  His  own  good 
pleasure ;  His  plan  divine  laid  with  the  foundations  of 
the  world.  "But,"  said  the  Colonel,  speaking  half  aloud 
to  himself,  "  what  is  this  that  I  am  now  asked  to  believe? 
Spiritualistic  mediums;  and  what  does  that  mean?  That 


170  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

there  are  those  among  us,  like  us  seemingly  in  every 
respect,  in  flesh  and  blood,  in  thought  and  feeling,  in 
aims  and  hopes  and  desires,  but  who  differ  from  us  in 
the  power  to  pass  into  a  so-called  trance  at  will,  and  then 
in  that  semi-conscious  state  to  dive  back  into  the  depths 
of  the  past  or  to  pierce  the  vail  of  futurity  through  a 
mystic  communication  with  departed  souls.  Can  it  be 
possible  that  if  it  were  in  the  power  of  that  departed 
spirit,  whose  memory  is  still  loved  far  more  dearly  than 
I  love  the  breath  of  life,  to  come  back  to  me  even  for  one 
moment,  she  would  have  left  me  so  long  comfortless  ?  If 
her  sweet  spirit  is  now  hovering  in  the  air  near  me,  and 
she  can  hear  my  voice  and  know  my  heart  and  feel  my 
love,  can  it  be  that  she  who  never  hid  from  me  her 
lightest  thoughts  would  wound  me  with  deep,  endless, 
hopeless  longing  for  one  word  of  comfort — one  more 
expression  of  her  love?  Oh,  Helen  !  Helen  !  Pray  to  the 
Father;  pray  that  I  may  come  and  be  with  thee  in  that 
sweet  land  of  rest." 

The  murmuring  sounds  died  upon  the  old  man's  lips. 
He  raised  his  hand  and  pressed  it  to  his  brow.  The 
tears  gathered  in  his  eyes  and  silently  rolled  down  his 
cheeks,  and  thus  for  a  time  he  sat  motionless  and  silent, 
and  then  he  clasped  his  hands  and  bent  his  head,  and 
with  a  voice  calm  and  full  of  earnest  pleading,  he  said : 
"But  not  my  will,  oh  Lord  !  let  Thine  be  done." 

The  fire  in  the  grate  burned  lower;  the  fading  light 
flickered  with  a  feebler  flame ;  the  shadows  on  the  dying 
coals  came  and  went,  weaving  fantastic  figures ;  the 
harmless  cricket  crept  from  his  corner,  greeted  his  mate, 
and  chirped  his  love  song  in  the  gloaming.  But  the 
good  old  man  heard  not  the  song  of  love,  nor  saw  the 
moving  figures  on  the  fire.  He  heeded  not  the  sigh  of 
the  dying  coals,  nor  the  chilly  breath  that  crept  along 
the  floor.  His  spirit  was  holding  sweet  communion  with 
the  spirit  of  his  angel  wife,  and  in  his  soul  the  light  of 
hope  was  making  radiant  the  realms  of  redeeming  love. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

A]\IONG  the  many  elegant  family  portraits  which  hung 
from  the  walls  of  the  spacious  parlor  of  tlie  Grove 
was  one  of  Mrs.  Moore,  taken  in  the  prime  of  her  life.  It 
was  the  work  of  tlie  most  skillful  artist  of  the  day,  and  it 
was  a  masterly  production  of  the  divine  art  of  portrait 
painting.  At  the  time  that  it  was  taken  it  was  intended 
more  for  the  personal  pleasure  and  private  enjoymout  of 
Colonel  Moore  than  for  the  puhlic  eye.  In  accord  with 
his  wishes,  it  was  painted  to  represent  her  not  in  full  or 
costly  costume,  but  in  a  light-blue  silk  wrapper,  with  her 
hair  flowing  and  her  j^erson  entirely  free  from  jewelry, 
for  in  the  loving  eyes  of  the  worshiping  husband,  the 
lovely  wife  was  never  so  lovely  as  when  her  loveliness  was 
least  adorned.  The  artist  had  conceived  the  happy  idea 
of  painting  the  picture  as  though  the  figure  was  in 
motion,  in  order  that  the  costume  might  seem  the  more 
appropriate;  and  so  well  had  he  succeeded  in  the  execu- 
tion that  you,  knowing  the  picture  to  be  a  picture,  and 
nothing  more,  would  almost  be  startled  by  the  seeming 
advance  of  the  picture  as  you  approached  it. 

Mr.  Dodge  had  noticed  this  portrait,  and  although  he 
had  never  made  it  the  subject  of  the  slightest  comment, 
he  had  taken  occasion  to  examine  it  closely.  It  was  not 
necessary  to  be  told  who  it  was  intended  to  represent, 
lor  the  striking  resemblance  between  mother  and  daugh- 
ter was  too  manifest  to  be  mistaken,  and  a  careless 
observer  would  possibly  have  supposed  that  it  was  taken 
for  Helen  herself.  Mr.  Dodge  had  also  noticed  with  what 
tender,  loving  eyes  Colonel  Moore  often  regarded  the  pic- 
ture; and  even  one  less  skilled  in  the  ways  of  the  human 
(171) 


172  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

heart  could  have  seen  that  his  love  for  the  sweet  departed 
wife  was  still  the  ruling  passion  of  the  husband.  He 
never  spoke  of  her  if  it  could  be  well  avoided,  not  even  to 
Helen;  but  this  only  showed  the  lingering  tenderness  of 
his  affections. 

When  Mr,  Dodge  first  saw  the  picture  he  was  struck 
not  only  with  the  almost  matchless  beauty  of  the  person 
it  was  intended  to  represent,  but  also  with  the  exquisite 
manner  in  which  the  artist  had  executed  his  design.  As 
you  looked  at  it,  and  then  perhaps  walked  towards  it  to 
examine  it  more  closely,  the  whole  figure  seemed  to  be  a 
moving,  breathing  embodiment  of  life.  Mr.  Dodge  was 
an  artist  himself  in  a  small  way,  and  although  he  never 
boasted  of  his  skill  in  handling  the  brush,  still  he  was 
far  from  being  ignorant  of  his  power. 

One  afternoon  he  was  left  alone  in  the  parlor.  No 
sooner  than  he  found  himself  free  from  observation  he 
arose  and  closed  the  door  and  walked  across  the  room 
and  stood  for  some  time  looking  at  the  picture;  but  the 
expression  of  his  face  showed  that  he  was  not  so  much 
lost  in  admiration  at  its  beauty  or  the  skill  of  the  artist 
as  he  was  engaged  in  trying  to  give  definite  shape  to 
some  thought  that  was  passing  through  his  mind.  At 
length  he  said  to  himself,  "Yes,  I  believe  I  can  do  it.  At 
any  rate,  I'll  try;  and  when  I  try,  you  know — .  But  that 
will  do.  More  anon.  Yes,"  he  said,  changing  somewhat 
his  expression  and  tone,  "she  must  have  been  a  beautiful 
woman.  I  like  that  eye;  I  like  tliat  brow;  I  like  that 
mouth.  Somehow,  they  seem  familiar.  If  I  were  not  a 
modest  man,  claiming  few  pretensions,  I  do  believe  I 
could  say  they  have  some  resemblance  to — ".  Then  he 
stopped  short,  smiled,  turned  and  looked  in  the  glass, 
then  back  at  the  picture  again.  "Can  it  be  possible,  or 
is  this  a  mere  fancy?  Well,  well!  Let  that  pass;  but 
one  thing  sure,  I  think  I  have  found  the  starting  point 
in  my  grand  scheme.     Now  let  Nemesis  favor  the  ellbrts 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  173 

of  her  most  devoted  devotee.  I'll  play  npon  the  imagi- 
nation of  that  silly-souled  old  dotard;"  and  he  turned  and 
looked  at  the  portrait  of  Colonel  Moore,  which  hung  on 
the  opposite  wall. 

A  few  days  later  Mr.  Dodge  said  to  Charles  one  morn- 
ing, "You  will  be  busy  to-day.  I  think  I  will  ride  over 
to  the  Grove.  I  want  to  write  a  letter,  and  I  left  some 
papers  in  my  valise  which  I  will  need."    > 

Charles  offered  to  send  for  the  valise,  but  Mr.  Dodge 
said,  "Oh,  no!  I  will  enjoy  the  ride.  I  will  take  your 
rifle  along.  I  may  find  some  game,  and  I  am  anxious  to 
become  a  good  shot." 

"Very  well,"  said  Charles.  "I  will  order  your  horse. 
The  rifle  and  ammunition  you  will  find  in  my  room." 

Later  that  day  Mr.  Dodge  and  Colonel  Moore  were  sitting 
on  the  porch  at  the  Grove  in  casual  conversation.  The 
November  air  was  pleasant  and  the  sunshine  was  warm 
and  comfortable.  After  a  time  Mr.  Dodge  said,  "I  left 
my  dressing-case  in  my  room  up-stairs,  Colonel.  There 
is  a  letter  in  it  which  I  wish  to  answer  this  morning.  If 
you  will  excuse  me,  I  will  go  up  and  write  at  once,  so  that 
the  letter  may  go  by  the  afternoon  post." 

"Certainly,  certainly,  Mr.  Dodge,"  said  Colonel  Moore. 
"You  can  use  the  library.  You  will  find  writing  mate- 
rial all  there.     I  will  go  and  have  you  a  fire  made." 

"Oh,  no!"  said  Mr.  Dodge.  "Do  not  put  yourself  to 
that  trouble.  I  shall  only  write  a  short  note.  I  have 
writing  material  in  my  dressing  case;  and  as  I  see  there 
is  already  a  fire  in  the  parlor,  I  will  go  in  there." 

"As  you  like,  sir,  as  you  like,"  said  the  courteous  Colo- 
nel Moore.  "Just  walk  into  the  parlor.  Uncle  Ben  here 
will  wait  on  you  and  get  your  valise." 

"Yes,  sir;  yes,  sir,"  responded  Uncle  Ben,  who  had 
come  forward  just  at  that  moment  to  speak  to  Colonel 
Moore,  and  who  had  heard  the  last  few  remarks  that  passed 
betvveen  the  gentlemen.     "I'll  get  the  walise;  I'll  fetch  it 


174  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

down  to  the  parlor."  And  so,  in  due  time,  the  valise  was 
taken  to  Mr.  Dodge,  who  had  passed  into  the  parlor. 

"Thank  you.  Uncle  Ben,"  said  Mr.  Dodge,  as  the  valise 
was  placed  near  the  centre  table  and  the  old  negro  war 
about  to  retire. 

"You  are  quite  welcome,  boss.  Anything  else  you 
wish?" 

"Nothing  else,  Uncle  Ben;  that  is  all  I  need." 

Mr.  Dodge  tried  to  be  at  his  ease.  Uncle  Ben  tried  to 
be  respectful.  Mr.  Dodge  tried  to  say  "Uncle  Ben"  with 
that  tone  of  respect  in  which  that  terra  is  used  by  the 
Southerner  in  speaking  to  colored  people  of  advanced 
age.  The  old  negro  tried  to  hide  the  dark  suspicion  that 
flitted  through  his  mind  like  a  shadow  in  the  light  of  a 
half-veiled  moon.  Both  tried  hard;  but  both  failed,  in 
so  far  as  the  two  parties  interested  were  concerned.  Mr. 
Dodge  saw  the  suspicion,  and  felt  it  like  a  millstone 
weighing  upon  his  heart  and  crushing  down  his  spirits. 
The  old  negro  saw  the  effort  to  be  at  ease  and  appear 
kind,  and  knew  it  was  acted  for  a  purpose,  for  the  truth 
was  that  this  worthy  old  negro  had  been  the  bane  of  Mr. 
Dodge's  life  from  the  moment  they  first  met  out  on  the 
road  up  to  the  present  time. 

The  old  negro  loved  Charles  Reed  as  though  he  were 
his  own  child,  and  in  the  sick  room  he  had  watched  with 
a  vigilance  such  as  love  alone  can  inspire.  He  was 
courteous  and  respectful  to  Mr.  Dodge,  almost  obsequi- 
ously so;  but  Mr.  Dodge  suspected  that  there  was  a  sus- 
picion, and  this  thought  made  the  atmosphere  where  the 
old  negro  breathed  almost  suffocating  to  the  guilty-souled 
dissembler. 

The  wily  hypocrite  almost  writhed  with  agony  as  he 
felt  the  inquisitive  look  of  those  mild  eyes  fixed  upon 
him.  He  could  have  leaped  upon  the  old  negro  and 
throttled  him  witn  a  single  grip  of  his  strong  right  hand; 
but,  like  the  tiger  thirsting  for  his  keeper's  blood,  he  was 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  175 

held  in  abject  obedience  by  the  steady  gaze  of  the  human 
eye. 

The  old  man  bowed  low  as  he  backed  himself  out  of 
the  room  and  closed  the  door  behind  him.  LIr.  Dodge 
stood  with  dark  frowns  gathering  on  his  brow,  looking  at 
the  door,  listening  for  lingering  footsteps,  to  see  if  he  was 
watched. 

"Damn  his  old  obsequious  black  soul,"  said  Dodge. 
"Damn  him  down  to  the  bottomless  pit  of  packed  perdi- 
tion. May  the  hottest  hole  of  heaving  hell  furnish  the 
fire  to  burn  and  scorch  his  lying  liver!"  Then  changing 
his  tone  a  little,  he  continued,  "We  both  are  acting  like 
a  yoke  of  damn  fools,  each  trying  to  deceive  the  other; 
but  we  both  know  we  are  lying  like  a  stinking  dog;"  and 
Dodge  shook  his  fist  at  the  closed  door  and  said,  "I'll 
have  him  yet.  But  I  must  not  forget,  for  '  whom  the 
gods  would  destroy  they  first  make  mad.'  FU  abide  my 
time."  Mr.  Dodge  then  walked  to  the  door  and  cau- 
tiously let  down  the  catch  latch.  He  then  took  down  the 
portrait  of  Mrs.  Moore  and  set  it  leaning  against  a  chair 
opposite  the  south  window,  the  curtains  of  which  he 
arranged  so  that  the  sunlight  could  enter  the  room  from 
the  upper  part  of  the  sash,  but  so  that  no  one  could  see 
into  the  room  standing  on  the  ground.  This  done,  he 
went  to  his  so-called  dressing  case  and,  opening  it,  took 
therefrom  what  you  would  at  once  have  recognized  as  a 
small  but  most  elegant  camera  obscura.  He  then  pro- 
ceeded without  delay  to  take  a  photograph  copy  of  the 
portrait.  He  had  carefully  arranged  and  made  ready  all 
of  his  chemicals,  so  that  the  work  before  him  was  soon 
accomplished.  He  then  rehung  the  picture,  arranged  the 
curtains  of  the  window,  placed  tlie  camera  back  in  the 
valise,  and  unlocked  the  door  and  walked  out  on  the 
porch.  As  he  did  so  Colonel  JNIoore  came  across  the  lawn 
from  the  stables  and  joined  him.  Mr.  Dodge  accosted 
him  as  he  came  up  and  said,  "After  all,  Colonel,  I  will 


176  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

not  be  able  to  write.  I  have  cut  my  finger,  and  cannot 
use  my  pen  very  well.  Awkward  of  me,  was  it  not,  to 
cut  my  finger  while  sharpening  a  pencil?" 

"Is  it  a  bad  cut?"  asked  Colonel  Moore.  "Let  me  get 
you  something  to  put  on  it." 

"Oh!  no,"  replied  Mr.  Dodge;  "a  mere  trifle.  I  think 
it  will  be  all  right  by  the  morning.  But  if  it  will  not 
trouble  you  too  much,  Colonel,  I  would  be  glad  if  you 
would  send  my  dressing  case  over  to  ]\Ielrose  this  after- 
noon. I  ought  to  have  allowed  Charles  to  send  for  it 
when  he  proposed  the  other  day;  but  I  did  not  think 
then  that  I  would  need  it.  But  all  of  my  letters  are  in 
it,  and  I  fear  I  shall  have  to  get  him  to  write  for  me 
to-night." 

"Certainly,  Mr.  Dodge;  I  will  send  it  over  by  Uncle 
Ben  at  once.  He  is  going  over  right  away,  I  believe,  to 
take  a  note  for  Helen." 

Colonel  Moore  then  called  Uncle  Ben,  who  was  getting 
ready  his  horse,  and  told  him  to  get  the  valise  and  take 
it  over  to  the  Abbey. 

As  Uncle  Ben  came  up  on  the  porch  Mr.  Dodge  said  to 
him,  "I  have  been  awkward  enough,  Uncle  Ben,  to  cut 
my  finger;  will  you  please  pour  a  few  drops  more  of  this 
ointment  on  it  for  me?"  and  he  handed  the  old  man  a 
phial;  then  continuing,  said,  "It  don't  smell  so  good,  but 
it  will  help  the  cut."  To  which  the  old  negro  replied, 
"Hope  so,  Boss;  hope  so." 

Uncle  Ben  then  went  for  the  valise.  When  he  entered 
the  parlor  he  noticed  the  same  peculiar  smell  which  he 
had  observed  when  Mr.  Dodge  gave  him  the  phial ;  but 
he  was  not  chemist  enough  to  be  able  to  tell  the  differ- 
ence between  the  odor  of  the  nitrate  of  silver  and  carbolic 
acid.  The  good  old  servant  examined  the  parlor  with 
the  most  scrutinizing  care,  but  his  diligence  availed  him 
nothing.  The  old  darkey  was  puzzled,  and  he  felt  the 
puzzle  to  be  perplexing.     His  heart  was  full  of  anxiety, 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  177 

but  he  could  not  see  that  there  was  anything  he  could 
do.  So  he  determmed  to  keep  silent,  but  to  wait  and 
watch  until  he  got  a  good  chance,  and  then  he  would 
question  Charles,  and  see  what  he  could  tell  about  this 
strange  stranger.  He  knew  that  Mr.  Dodge  had  come  to 
the  Grove  as  the  special  friend  of  Charles;  he  knew  that 
Colonel  Moore  and  Miss  Helen  had  received  and  treated 
him  as  such;  he  knew  that  he  had  no  proof  of  the  sus- 
picion which  filled  his  mind,  nor  could  lie  say  exactly 
what  that  suspicion  was.  All  that  he  could  say  about  it 
was  that  the  suspicion  was  there;  and  with  him  the  sus- 
picion was  proof  as  strong  as  holy  writ. 

The  old  negro  had  too  much  sense  to  go  to  Colonel 
Moore  and  say,  "Mars  Beverly,  I  don't  jist  like  dat  young 
man  what  calls  heself  Mister  Dodge;  I  don't  bleeve  he 
be  here  for  no  good;"  for  the  old  man  would  say  to  him- 
self, "Ef  I  do  dat,  old  Mars  will  ax  me,  'Why  not,  Ben?' 
Den  Ben  hab  no  answer  to  make  more  dan,  'Case  me 
don't;'  and  if  I  do  dat,  old  Mars  will  tink  me  a  fool,  do 
he  would  not  tell  me  so,  for  he  is  too  good  a  gentleman 
to  speak  dat  way  to  a  colored  pusson.  But  Ben  aint  no 
fool,  Ben  got  sense  like  a  horse,  Ben  is.  So  Ben's  gwine 
to  bide  his  time  and  watch.  Dat  young  coon  is  a  sooner; 
but  old  Ben  is  a  sooner,  too,  he  is.  I  knows  he  be  arter 
some  devilment;  but  I'll  cotch  him  yit;  yes,  I'll  cotch 
him  yit.  You  jis  wait  and  see."  With  this  the  old  negro 
shook  his  head,  and  with  much  complacency  went  about 
his  duties,  and  in  due  time  carried  the  valise  to  Melrose 
Abbey. 

During  the  days  of  Charles's  convalescence  Mr.  Dodge 
had  taken  occasion  to  note  with  the  utmost  care  the  gen- 
eral arrangement  of  the  whole  house;  and  in  order  that 
his  memory  might  not  fail  him,  he  had  made  notes  and 
sketches  for  reference,  which  he  had  studied  at  his  leisure. 
He  knew  the  position  of  the  furniture  in  the  house  and 
the  manner  of  fastening  the  doors  and  windows.  He 
12 


178  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

had  pretended  to  be  a  great  admirer  of  old  antique  fur- 
niture, and  by  his  seeming  mterest  in  such  things  had 
secured  the  privilege  to  examine  the  sleeping  room  of 
Colonel  Moore,  which  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  build- 
ing between  the  library  and  the  sitting  room,  the  double 
j)arlors  and  the  dining  room  being  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  hall.  From  the  Colonel's  bed  room  there  was  a 
door  leading  into  the  sitting  room,  as  there  was  also  a 
door  leading  into  the  library,  over  which  there  was  a 
transom.  But  this  door  had  been  but  seldom  used  of  late. 
lit  was  locked  on  the  bed-room  side  and  on  the  library 
'side  a  curtain  had  been  hung  over  it,  to  give  it  more  the 
appearance  of  a  window  than  a  door. 

The  butler  was  in  the  habit  of  sleeping  on  a  portable 
bed  in  the  sitting  room  as  a  kind  of  general  watch  and 
protector.  Helen's  room  was  on  the  second  floor  imme- 
diately above  her  father's  room,  while  her  maid  occupied 
a  special  room  adjoining  hers.  But  the  manner  in  which 
all  this  information  could  possibly  prove  interesting  to 
William  Dodge  must  be  for  the  present,  and  it  may  be 
for  all  time,  a  subject  for  conjecture. 


/  :\ 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  reader  will  pcrceivo  ihcd  in  the  last  chapter  the  nar- 
rator has  been  retracing  his  steps  to  some  extent,  and 
wandered  back  in  order  to  give  some  account  of  matters 
and  things,  a  knowledge  of  which  is  requisite  to  a  full 
understanding  of  what  is  to  follow.  We  will  now  return  to 
the  company  as  we  left  them  at  the  Abbey  the  evening  of 
the  receijDt  of  Chester  Hemphill's  letter. 

When  Doctor  Hall  left  and  Mr.  Dodge  retired  to  his 
room,  Mv.  Eeed  and  Charles  lingered  for  a  time  in  order 
to  confer  in  regard  to  some  domestic  afiairs  which,  would 
require  attention  during  Mr.  Reed's  contemplated  visit 
North. 

When  Mr.  Dodge  reached  his  room  the  fire  had  burned 
down,  but  left  on  the  hearth  a  heap  of  glowing  coals. 
Mr.  Dodge  looked  at  his  watch;  it  was  but  half-past  nine. 
"Plenty  of  time,"  said  he;  "plenty  of  time  to  give  the 
finishing  strokes  to  my  work — 12  o'clock  will  be  full  soon 
for  the  grand  finale  of  this  midnight  maraud.  I'll  take 
away  no  '  portable  property,'  but  I'll  steal  away  the  old 
man's  wits  and  rob  him  of  his  reason." 

He  then  brought  forward  his  so-called  dressing-case, 
but  instead  of  letters  to  be  answered,  lie  took  thereform  a 
tin  box  and  placed  it  on  the  table.  He  then  paused  a 
moment,  as  though  listening  to  see  if  any  one  was  pass- 
ing; as  all  was  silent  he  walked  to  the  door  and  turned 
the  key  in  the  lock,  came  back  to  the  table,  unlocked  the 
tin  box  and  placed  its  contents  on  the  table,  and  then 
proceeded  to  examine  the  articles  one  after  the  other  with 
extreme  satisfaction ;  especially  one  article,  which  seemed 
to  be  a  piece  of  square  glass  on  wdiicli  there  was  some- 
(179) 


180  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

thing  painted.  This  he  placed  la  something  round  like 
a  good  sized  can  with  an  opening  on  one  side.  He  then 
struck  a  match,  lighted  a  very  small  lamp,  which  he 
placed  in  the  can-like  article,  turned  down  the  light  in 
the  room,  and  removing  a  slide  flashed  a  shadow  on  the 
wall  from  what  was  now  apparent  a  magic  lantern.  For 
quite  awhile  he  stood  looking  at  the  picture  made  on  the 
wall  by  the  magic  influence  of  the  operator.  Kow  darken- 
ing, now  making  more  clear,  the  outlines  of  the  picture 
as  inclination  moved  him  as  he  worked  the  lantern. 

"  That  blue  is  light  enough  now,"  said  he,  "  for  an  angel ; 
and  the  tips  of  those  shoes  I  have  made  into  very  pretty 
toes.  Angels  they  say  don't  wear  shoes,  so  they  had  to 
go.  Thanks  to  the  skillful  touch  of  my  brush.  What  a 
blessed  thing  it  is  to  be  a  man  of  resources.  That  will 
do ;  yes,  that  will  do  for  the  picture.  Kow  for  my  keys, 
my  files,  my  bent  wire,  and  the  like  paraphernalia  for  easy 
entrance."  These  forthwith  he  gathered  up  and  placed  in 
his  pockets.  The  rest  of  the  things  he  placed  back  in 
the  tin  box,  which  he  put  back  in  the  valise.  The  lan- 
tern he  placed  to  one  side,  having  first  extinguished  the 
small  lamp.  He  then  turned  up  his  light,  picked  up  a  book, 
looked  at  his  watch  again,  and  said,  *'I  must  not  go  for 
an  hour  j'et.  Let's  see  what  Hamlet's  father's  ghost  did 
really  say.  "This  ghost  business  is  a  ticklish  business 
after  all,  but  I'll  not  flinch;  for  who  entertains  fear,  invites 
defeat." 

An  hour  later  a  dark  shadow  blacker  than  the  black 
night  itself  glided  out  from  'neath  the  entangled  under- 
growth to  the  rear  of  Melrose  Abbey,  and  like  an  evil 
spiiit  vanished  in  the  still  gathering  gloom.  The  night 
was  dark;  the  moon,  which  had  not  yet  completed  its 
second  quarter,  had  dipped  below  the  horizon,  and  a  thick 
misty  cloud  had  overspread  the  sky,  shutting  out  the 
light  of  the  stars,  and  wrapping  the  earth  in  the  thick 
folds  of  darkness.     Silence  accompanied,  too,  for  the  birda 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  181 

and  the  beasts  had  retired  to  rest,  and  were  with  nature 
hushed  in  midniglit  repose.  At  the  Grove  not  a  light 
was  seen,  not  a  sound  was  heard,  no  figure  moved;  all 
was  still  as  death  and  silent  as  the  grave.  Nature  was 
resting  in  the  deep  stillness  of  the  lonely  hour,  while  man 
— tired  man — slept  the  sweet  refreshing  sleep  of  innocence 
and  banished  care. 

There  was  not  a  heart  that  night  amid  all  the  teeming 
millions  of  Adam's  race  resting  under  the  whole  canopy 
of  heaven  that  beat  more  gently,  more  truly,  noble  and 
pure  than  the  heart  of  Beverly  Moore.  Nor  M'as  there  a 
soul  in  all  the  breathing  world  of  men  that  thirsted  with 
a  more  intense  thirst  for  the  robes  of  righteousness  than 
that  good,  God-fearing  old  man.  He  looked  upon  life 
as  the  pathway  to  peace,  and  death  as  the  portals  to  the 
land  of  bliss.  He  saw  with  the  eye  of  faith  the  hidden 
things  of  God.  He  heard  with  glad  rejoicing  salvation's 
sweet  hosannas,  and  with  a  hope  that  was  beaming  bright 
he  saw  the  light  of  redeeming  love.  He  lay  in  his  bed 
the  picture  of  repose,  his  head  lightly  resting  upon  his 
arm — never  heeding,  never  knowing,  never  fearing  the 
deeds  of  dark  desire — sweetly  sleeping,  gently  breathing, 
fondly  dreaming  of  peace  and  joy  and  heavenly  rest. 

That  evening  his  thoughts  had  been  unusually  serious, 
his  heart  unusually  full,  his  prayer  unusually  fervent. 
Just  before  he  retired  he  had  read  the  fifth  chapter  of 
Matthew,  that  sweetest  chapter  in  the  book  of  time,  that 
blessed  ])romise  by  our  blessed  Saviour. 

Oh,  *' Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs  is  the 
kingdom  of  heaven." 

"Blessed  are  they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall  be  com- 
forted." 

*'  Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth." 

"Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and  thrist  after 
righteousness,  for  they  shall  be  filled." 

"  Blessed  are  the  merciful,  for  they  shall  obtain  mercy." 


182  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

"Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God." 
He  read  the  chapter  through  to  the  end  with  deep 
feeling,  and  when  he  had  read  he  knelt  by  the  bedside, 
bowed  his  head  upoii  his  hands  and  lifted  up  his  voice 
in  prayer.  He  prayed  long,  he  prayed  earnestly,  he 
prayed  fervently.  He  prayed  with  his  heart  full  of  love, 
his  soul  full  of  feeling,  his  spirit  full  of  faith  and  hope. 
He  prayed  in  solitude,  he  prayed  in  secret — in  secret  hid 
from  all  the  world,  but  in  sight  of  heaven  and  the  holy 
angels.  Prayed  that  he  might  be  meek  and  lowly  in 
spirit, that  he  might  be  an  heir  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ; 
prayed  that  he  might  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteous- 
ness with  a  deeper  thirst  and  a  more  yearning  desire,  so 
that  he  might  be  filled  in  the  sweet  haven  of  endless  rest; 
prayed  that  his  heart  might  abound  in  mercy,  that  he 
might  obtain  mercy  the  more  abundantly;  and  then, 
rising,  as  it  were,  upon  the  very  pinions  of  prayer  and 
stretching  out  his  arms,  in  the  intense  yearning  of  his 
soul  and  the  unquenchable  thirst  of  his  heart,  as  though 
he  would  reach  and  clasp  the  very  feet  of  the  blessed 
Redeemer  and  lay  his  prayer  upon  the  throne  of  mercy 
itself,  he  said, "  Oh !  my  God,  my  God,  give  me  a  pure  heart, 
that  I  may  see  Thee;  that  I  may  see  Thee, my  God, my  hope, 
my  all."  Then  the  old  ipan's  voice  was  still ;  his  head 
bent  lower  and  lower  upon  his  hand,  his  eyes  were  mois- 
tened with  tears,  his  heart  was  full;  but  in  the  secret 
sanctuary  of  his  soul,  his  spirit  covered  with  the  dust  of 
humility,  he  was  holding  silent  communion  with  the  all- 
merciful  Creator. 

Oh!  who  can  speak  the  inestimable  blessing  of  prayer? 
What  realms  of  light  come  pouring  into  the  soul  through 
the  portals  of  deep  supplication.  The  spirit  may  be 
bowed  with  sorrow,  the  heart  may  be  covered  with 
shame,  the  soul  may  be  filled  with  grief,  and  anguish 
bend  you  in  the  throes  and  agonies  of  death;  but  prayer, 
sweet  prayer,  can  lift  you  from  the  dust  of  humility,  from 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  183 

the  filth  and  mire  of  sin,  and  place  your  feet  upon  a  rock 
more  firm  than  all  the  foundations  of  the  world.  The 
waves  of  sorrow  m.ay  lash  your  frail  bark  like  the  storms 
of  the  sea,  clouds  blacker  than  the  bosom  of  the  rushing 
tornado  spread  over  you,  and  gulfs  deeper  than  the  flights 
of  thought  can  pierce  open  and  yawn  beneath  you,  whilst 
around  you  may  roar  the  surging  waves  of  dark  despair; 
but  prayer — sweet,  blessed  prayer — can  save  you  free  from 
every  harm.  That  soul  that  can  in  secret  seek  grace 
divine — that  can  look  up  and  say  "Abba,  Father,"  in 
deep,  undying  love — v/ill  find  a  light  beaming  in  his  soul 
brighter  than  the  brightest  star,  brighter  than  the  bright- 
est day,  brighter  than  the  brilliant  sun.  And  with  that 
light  will  come  a  peace  sweeter  than  the  sweetest  fruit, 
sweeter  than  the  sweetest  flower — yea,  sweeter  than  the 
dews  of  night;  a  peace  which  the  world  cannot  give  nor 
the  world  take  away.  The  dying  thief  upon  the  cross 
saw  that  light  and  felt  that  joyful  hope;  the  doomed 
malefactor,  standing  upon  the  shores  of  eternity,  felt  it 
shining  in  through  the  secret  chambers  of  his  soul.  It 
has  flashed  along  the  dark  vista  of  penitential  infidelity 
and  illumined  the  dome  in  the  heart  of  the  prodigal  son. 
And  such  was  the  light  that  glittered  along  the  path  of 
that  enfeebled  old  man  as  he  arose  from  his  prayer,  and 
such  the  peace  which  filled  his  cup  and  soothed  and 
sweetened  his  declining  years.  He  lay  down  to  rest — to 
sleep  the  sweet  sleep  of  purity  and  to  dream  the  bright 
dreams  of  by-gone  years  and  better  days  in  store.  He, 
dreaming,  thought  it  was  a  summer's  day,  and  he  was 
young  again,  and  with  his  lovely  wife,  hand  in  hand,  had 
climbed  the  neighboring  hill  to  watch  the  setting  sun. 
The  air,  he  thought,  was  full  of  fragrance,  the  birds  were 
alive  with  song,  while  nature  seemed  to  smile  its  sweet- 
est smile,  all  conscious  of  its  beauty.  The  sun  was  glo- 
rious in  expanding  splendors,  while  the  sky,  as  though  it 
were  the  realm  of  some  ethereal  spirit  blessed,  glowed  with 


184  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE, 

ever-changing  light.  There,  it  floats  away  to  the  south  like 
a  robe  of  silver  flowing;  here,  the  streaks  of  gold  mark  the 
richest  coloring,  while  yonder,  at  1  he  north,  the  rosy  light 
seems  to  hover  over  the  woods  or  touch  the  gentle  earth  with 
caressing  care.  Long,  he  thought,  they  stood  and  gazed 
upon  that  scene — now  in  silence,  now  in  quiet  converse — 
until  at  length  she  spoke  of  that  matchless  beauty  and 
said,  "That  beauty  is  but  the  expression  of  the  divine 
thought,  revealed  under  the  veil  of  the  material  form, 
and  shows  the  presence  of  the  invisible  Spirit  whose  life 
is  love  and  whose  home  is  light."  And  then,  he  thought, 
his  wife  was  silent,  and  stood  and  gazed  and  gazed,  and 
longing  gazed  upon  that  bright,  that  beautiful  sky,  until 
at  length  she  turned  to  him  and  said,  speaking  more 
with  her  eyes  than  with  her  voice,  "I  must  leave  you 
now ;  watch  and  wait.  Watch  and  wait  till  I  come  back 
for  3'ou.'"  And  then  her  face,  so  bright,  grew  brighter — 
brighter  than  the  brightest  day — till  in  the  dazzling  light 
it  vanished,  seemed  to  rise  and  float  away.  Then  dark- 
ness came;  darkness  darker  than  the  darkest  night; 
darkness  that  filled  a  long,  long  stretch  of  time — so  long 
he  could  not  count  the  years  that  seemed  to  pass,  for  there 
was  no  day  by  which  to  note  the  flight  of  time ;  only 
night,  endless  night.  But  still  upon  that  hill  he  seemed 
to  stand  and  watch ;  to  watch  and  wait,  as  she  had  bid 
him  do,  until  he  grew  old  and  weak  and  faint.  And 
then  in  his  heart  he  had  said,  "Oh!  Helen,  Helen  ;  pray 
to  the  Father — pray  to  the  blessed  Redeemer — pray  that 
I  may  come  and  be  with  them  and  thee."  And  then  he 
saw  a  circle  brighten  like  a  halo  in  the  sky,  and  from  out 
that  shining  circle,  with  an  angel's  pitying  eye,  came  there 
one  of  matchless  beauty;  came  and  stood  and  looked  on 
him.  Looked  with  pity's  tender  glances — tender  with 
true  sympathy.  And  when  his  eyes  could  bear  the  light 
of  her  radiant  face,  he  saw  that  it  was  the  face  of  his  own 
long-loved,  sweet  Helen  Moore.     He  stretched  forth  his 


YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE.  185 

arms  to  clasp  her.  The  exertion  aroused  him,  and  he 
started  up  in  bed.  He  looked  around,  or  tried  to  lock 
around ;  but  all  was  dark.  He  tried  to  think,  but  all 
was  confusion.  "Was  it  a  dream?"  he  said.  '*Do  I  still 
dream  ?  Where  am  I  ?  Did  I  see  a  vision  ?  Did  I  not 
hear  a  voice?  Some  one  did  seem  to  sing.  Did  I  not 
see  a  light?  I  thought  it  flashed  on  yonder  wall  even  as 
I  raised  in  bed.  I  am  not  asleep;  sure  I  am  not  asleep 
now."  And  then  he  la}'-  back  in  bed  again  and  tried  to 
think — tried  to  recall  the  dream ;  and  then  he  tried  to 
sleep,  that  he  might  dream  again.  So  still  he  lay  you 
might  have  heard  the  beating  of  his  heart.  How  long 
thus  he  lay  he  could  not  tell.  His  eyes  were  closed — he 
made  no  note  of  time.  His  thoughts,  if  thoughts  they 
could  be  called,  flitted  like  a  shadow  'twixt  earth  and 
heaven,  and  took  no  general  form.  Presently  the  room 
seemed  to  fill,  as  it  were,  with  the  sweet  incense  of  some 
aromatic  flower  and  music  so  low  as  scarce  to  reach  the 
ear,  but  soft  and  sweet  and  plaintive  as  the  sigh  of  the 
eolian  harp  or  the  breath  of  a  passing  zephyr  confe  float- 
ing over  the  air.  And  while  he  listened  a  light  slowly, 
so  slowly  you  could  scarce  see  it  brighten,  seemed  kind- 
ling on  the  wall.  No  shape  was  there  at  first,  but  now 
it  seemed  a  circling  spot,  brightening  like  a  halo  and 
spreading  wider  as  it  brightened.  The  old  man  lay  in 
breathless  silence  and  gazed  upon  the  widening  circle. 
His  heart  stood  still  and  over  his  body  he  felt  the  chills 
of  fear  begin  to  creep.  He  gazed  and  gazed,  and  while 
he  gazed  brighter  and  brighter  grew  the  circlirig  spot ; 
and  within  that  circle,  slowly  as  though  advancing  from 
afar,  a  shadow  began  some  form  to  take,  and  plainer  and 
plainer  that  shadow  seemed  to  grow  until  it  rested  a 
human  figure.  Then  robes  of  bright  light  were  woven 
around  it  and  clouds  seemed  floating  to  bear  its  long 
train;  and  the  face  in  the  vision,  like  the  face  in  the 
dream,  now  bright,  grew  brighter — brighter   than  the 


186  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

brightest  day ;  and  in  that  bright  and  dazzling  splendor 
the  old  man  saw  and  recognized  his  own  long-lost  Helen 
Moore.  He  screamed  and  leaped  to  clasp  her.  He  fell 
heavily  to  the  floor,  and  reason  fled  him. 

The  scream  rang  through  the  house  with  terrible  dis- 
tinctness and  aroused  its  every  inmate.  The  butler 
rushed  into 'the  room  only  to  find  it  hushed  in  awful 
silence  and  w^rapped  in  midnight  darkness.  Helen  and 
her  maid  leaped  from  their  beds  and  hurried  to  the  room 
of  Colonel  Moore.  The  dogs  in  the  yard  set  up  a  terrible 
barking  and  rushed  to  the  gate  as  though  in  hot  pursuit 
of  some  flying  fiend. 

In  a  moment  the  whole  plantation  was  in  a  general 
uproar,  all  rushing  towards  the  house.  "What  is  the 
matter?  my  God!  what  is  the  matter?"  was  on  every 
lip.  A  match  was  struck,  a  lamp  was  lighted,  and  the 
light  revealed  the  body  of  Colonel  Moore,  lying  prone 
upon  the  floor.  One'piercing  shriek  escaped  Helen,  and 
she  fell  forward,  clasping  the  body  of  her  father. 

"Old  Master  is  murdered!  old  Master  is  murdered  1" 
cried  the  butler,  and  every  tongue  took  up  the  cry  until 
the  wail  of  sorrow  rolled  from  side  to  side  like  the  moans 
of  a  terrible  storm.  *'My  God!  Oh,  my  God!"  they 
cried,  and  wrung  their  Imnds  in  the  agonies  of  grief. 

Old  Ben  seized  the  hostler  by  the  shirt  and  shouted, 
"Go  for  the  doctor!  go  for  the  doctor !  I'll  go  for  Mars 
Dabney  and  Mars  Charles."  And  off  they,  ran  to  the 
stable  with  all  their  might,  leaped  upon  the  swiftest 
horses,  and  sped  away  as  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind. 

When  old  Ben  reached  the  Abbey  he  was  almost 
speechless  with  excitement  and  fright.  He  rushed  up 
the  wide  steps  to  the  door  and  shook  it  with  all  his 
strength.  It  gave  way,  being  only  latched,  and  the  old 
negro  fell  forward  in  the  hall,  and  as  he  fell  he  cried  out, 
"Old  Master  is  murdered !  old  Master  is  murdered!  Oh, 
my  God,  old  Master  is  murdered!" 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  187 

Mr.  Reed  and  Charles  both  heard  the  cry  and  came 
tearing  down  the  steps.  They  waited  for  no  general 
explanation,  but  hurried  for  their  horses,  and  in  a 
few  moments  were  flying  towards  the  Grove.  Charles 
could  not  find  his  saddle,  so  he  leaped  upon  his  mare 
bare  back,  and  was  much  surprised  to  find  she  was  wet 
with  perspiration. 

Just  as  they  were  leaving  the  house  Mr.  Dodge  came 
out,  rubbing  his  eyes  as  though  he  had  been  reading. 
He  was  dressed  with  the  exception  of  coat,  vest  and  collar. 

When  the  old  negro  saw  him  he  looked  at  him  hard, 
as  though  he  would  look  him  through.  Neither  spoke. 
Dodge  did  not  seem  to  think  it  necessary  that  he  should 
go  to  the  Grove.  The  old  negro  did  not  seem  to  think 
it  necessary  to  give  any  information  to  Mr.  Dodge.  They 
understood  each  other.  They  both  knew  that  there  was 
a  suspicion. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

WHEN  the  gentlemen  from  Melrose  Abbey  reached 
the  Grove  they  found  that  Dr.  Hall  had  already 
arrived.  They  certainly  had  not  lost  any  time  in  com- 
ing to  the  rescue;  but  Dr.  Hall  had  gone  from  the  Abbey 
to  a  neighbor's  to  pay  a  professional  visit  and  on  his  way 
home  had  met  the  messenger  from  the  Grove  just  as  the 
doctor  turned  into  the  main  road,  and  thus  in  the  race 
he  preceded  his  friends  from  the  Abbey.  He  found  Colo- 
nel Moore  still  insensible  and  bleeding,  but  not  very  pro- 
fusely, from  a  sharp  cut  in  the  right  temple. 

Helen  had  ordered  her  father  to  be  placed  back  on  the 
bed  and  had  administered  such  restoratives  as  she  could 
command,  but  with  little  or  no  effect.  The  doctor  exam- 
ined the  wound  with  the  utmost  care,  and  seemed  puz- 
zled that  a  hurt  so  trivial  should  produce  even  partial 
insensibility.  So  he  continued  to  search  for  other  inju- 
ries, but  all  in  vain.  .He  assured  his  friends  that  there 
was  no  present  danger,  and  that  in  a  few  hours  Colonel 
Moore  would  be  himself  again ;  that  all  had  been  done 
that  could  be  done,  and  that  the  best  thing  now  was  to 
leave  the  patient  in  perfect  quiet,  and  that  nature  would 
soon  do  the  rest. 

Helen's  nerves  had  also  received  a  very  considerable 
shock  and  she  was  greatly  agitated,  so  the  doctor  gave 
her  an  opiate  and  persuaded  her  to  go  back  to  her  room, 
assuring  her  that  she  should  be  called  the  moment  her 
father  revived.  The  lamp  was  then  shaded  and  Charles 
left  to  keep  watch  in  the  sick  room  while  Mr.  Reed  and 
Dr.  Hall  retired  to  the  parlor  to  await  results.  The  but- 
ler was  called  into  the  parlor,  as  also  Helen's  maid  and 
(188) 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  189 

Uncle  Ben.  The  house  had  been  examined  by  the  but- 
ler and  Uncle  Ben  from  top  to  bottom,  but  nothing  had 
been  discovered  that  would  throw  the  least  light  upon 
the  subject  or  in  any  way  help  to  solve  the  mystery. 

The  butler  stated  that  he  had  been  aroused  by  the 
scream  and  heard  the  fall,  and  had  rushed  into  the 
room  only  to  find  it  wrapped  in  darkness;  that  he  had 
examined  the  house,  and  found  every  window  and  door 
securely  fastened,  except  the  window  in  the  library ;  but 
the  door  was  locked  and  he  had  the  key.  And  this 
statement  rather  tended  to  deepen  the  mystery.  He  was 
positive  that  no  one  had  left  Colonel  Moore's  room  through 
the  sitting  room,  which  he  occupied,  for  that  room  was 
partially  lighted  by  the  turned-down  lamp,  and  the  door 
which  led  from  the  Colonel's  room  into  the  library  was 
bolted  on  the  inside.  Uncle  Ben  could  give  no  informa- 
tion except  the  peculiar  behavior  of  the  dogs,  and  Helen's 
maid  was  perfectly  ignorant  on  all  points  except  as  to 
the  scream  and  the  condition  and  position  in  which  they 
found  Colonel  Moore. 

When  the  gentlemen  reached  the  parlor  they  took 
their  seats  close  to  the  fire,  which  was  still  burning  low 
after  Helen's  musical  practice.  Neither  of  them  seemed 
much  inclined  to  talk.  Dr.  Hall  was  deeply  absorbed  in 
the  welfare  of  his  patient,  and  he  was  far  from  feeling 
that  degree  of  satisfaction  as  to  the  safety  of  Colonel 
Moore  that  he  had  endeavored  to  impress  upon  others. 
He,  doctor-like,  kept  his  own  counsel,  determined  not  to 
say  too  much  until  the  Colonel  should  come  to  himself 
again.  For  he  thought  to  himself  if  the  blow  on  the 
head  was  not  a  murderous  blow,  but  only  produced  by 
the  fall,  there  must  have  been  some  cause  for  the  fall,  and 
it  was  not  improbable  that  there  had  been  a  spasm  of  the 
heart.  Yet,  thought  he,  the  pulse  is  now  stendy  and 
respiration  full,  easy  and  regular,  so  as  no  further  exam- 
ination could  be  made  just  yet,  either  of  the  premises  or 
of  the  patient,  nothing  could  be  done  but  to  wait. 


190  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

]\Ir.  Kced  knew  nothing  of  the  suspicion  entertained 
by  Dr.  Hall  as  to  the  possible  spasm  of  the  heart,  so  his 
thoughts  were  busy  with  the  motives  "which  led  to  the 
supposed  vile  assault  and  the  probable  means  of  its  exe- 
cution. Lawyer-like,  he  was  silent,  because  practice  and 
long  experience  had  taught  him  the  wisdom  of  not 
expressing  any  opinion  until  all  the  evidence  has  been 
submitted.  So  the  night  passed  away  and  the  morning 
came. 

Soon  after  the  sun  was  up  Charles  crept  into  the  parlor 
and  informed  Dr.  Hall  and  his  father  that  Colonel  Moore 
seemed  to  be  awake.  Thereupon  the  doctor  went  at 
once  to  the  bedside  of  his  patient.  When  Dr.  Hall 
entered  the  sick  chamber  Colonel  Moore  turned  his  head 
and  looked  at  him  with  an  expression  of  some  surprise. 
He  evidently  did  not  realize  that  the  professional  visit 
was  to  see  him.  He  spoke  at  once  and  asked, "  Is  any  one 
sick,  Doctor?"  To  which  Dr.  Hall  replied,  "Oh,  no;  not 
much.  Old  Ben  is  a  little  complaining  and  Helen  said 
that  you  were  not  very  well  last  night;  so  I  thought  I 
would  drop  in  and  see  how  you  were  feeling.'* 

"  I  do  feel  a  little  unwell  this  morning,"  said  the  Colo- 
nel. "  Not  exactly  sick,  but  a  sort  of  dizziness  about  my 
head,  as  though  I  had  slept  too  long." 

Dr.  Hall  took  his  patient's  hand  and  felt  his  pulse.  It 
was  plain  that  there  had  been  no  attack  about  the  heart. 
Then  what  had  been  the  matter?  The  doctor  was  puz- 
zled, but  it  was  his  duty  to  be  cautious.  So  he  remarked, 
"You  seem  to  have  hurt  your  head.  Colonel.  How  did 
that  happen?" 

"Oh!  yes,"  replied  Colonel  Moore,  carrying  his  hand 
to  his  head.  "I  think  I  had  a  fall,  I  had  a  kind  of 
nightmare  last  night  and  attempted  to  get  up,  and  in  the 
effort  fell  and  struck  my  head." 

"Then  you  must  not  try  to  get  up  to-day.  It  is  best 
that  you  remain  in  bed  and  keep  quiet;  then  by  to-mor- 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  191 

row  you  will  be  all  right."  The  doctor  then  suggested  a 
light  breakfast,  left  a  nervine  to  be  taken  after  the  meal, 
again  enjoined  quiet,  and  said  as  he  was  taking  his  leave, 
"I  shall  be  passing  the  Grove  again  to-day,  Colonel,  about 
noon,  and  will  call  in  and  see  how  you  are  getting  along." 

"All  right.  Doctor;  do  so.  I  hope  to  feel  better  by  that 
time." 

When  Dr.  Hall  left  his  patient  he  returned  to  the  par- 
lor and  reported  the  Colonel's  condition ;  also  what  expla- 
nation had  been  given  as  to  the  hurt  on  the  head.  There 
was  a  mystery,  that  was  certain — a  mystery  that  was 
rather  perplexing.  The  explanation  that  Colonel  Moore 
gave  was  not  very  satisfactory.  The  theory  of  foul  play 
for  the  present  seemed  more  reasonable.  So  the  three 
gentlemen,  aided  by  the  butler,  proceeded  at  once  and 
entered  upon  a  full  examination  of  the  premises  that 
they  might  see  if  there  was  anything  suggestive  of  actual 
violence.  This  was  accordingly  done,  but  nothing  was 
discovered  tending  to  show  an  actual  assault,  but  on  the 
contrary,  one  of  the  chairs  in  the  bed-room  was  spattered 
with  blood  and  locks  of  hair  were  found  on  one  of  its 
rounds,  which  indicated  that  the  Colonel  had  fallen 
against  it.  They,  however,  discovered  in  examining  the 
library  that  the  window  was  unfastened  and  that  the  cur- 
tain about  the  transom  between  the  bed  room  and  library 
was  somewhat  disarranged.  This  they  all  thought  a  lit- 
tle strange,  especially  as  the  butler  insisted  that  he  had 
locked  the  library  door  just  before  he  retired  and  arranged 
the  curtain  properly.  Still  this  did  not  go  to  prove  that 
any  one  had  actually  entered  the  bed  room  of  Colonel 
Moore.  So  the  Colonel's  explanation,  unsatisfoctory  as  it 
was,  had  to  stand  as  the  conclusion  arrived  at.  It  was, 
however,  agreed  that  the  Colonel  should  not  be  questioned 
further  in  regard  to  the  matter  at  the  present  time,  but 
that  no  allusion  should  be  made  to  the  matter  until  the 
Colonel  was  in  a  better  condition  to  answer  Questions. 


192  YAJ^KEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

But  although  this  agreement  was  made  and  thia  conclu- 
sion acquiesced  in  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Hall,  he  him- 
self was  far  from  being  satisfied ;  something  seemed  to 
oppose  the  idea  that  that  was  a  fall  and  nothing  more, 
for  the  scream  and  insensibility  from  so  slight  a  wound 
could  not  be  accounted  for  by  this  theory. 

Mr.  Reed  returned  to  Melrose  Abbey  soon  after  break- 
fast. Dr.  Hall  went  back  home,  having  promised  Helen 
that  he  would  return  later  in  the  day,  while  Charles 
stayed  to  assist  in  taking  care  of  his  friend.  The  next 
day  Colonel  Moore  felt  so  much  better  he  insisted  on  get- 
ting up,  saying  he  w^ould  certainly  be  sick  if  lie  was  re- 
quired to  stay  in  bed.  With  the  exception  of  the  slight 
cut  on  his  temple  he  seemed  to  be  perfectly  well  and  rel- 
ished his  meals  with  his  usual  appetite.  He  was  cheer- 
ful, it  might  be  said,  unusually  so,  while  conversing,  but 
now  and  then  when  no  one  was  speaking  with  him,  his 
countenance  showed  abstraction.  He  was  thinking,  and 
his  thoughts  seemed  to  be  fixed  on  some  subject  which 
perplexed  him,  but  did  not  displease  him.  He  was  evi- 
dently disinclined  to  give  any  further  explanation  of  his 
fall,  so  the  subject  was  not  pressed  upon  him. 

Charles  continued  at  the  Grove  for  a  day  or  more; 
it  was  pleasant  to  be  there;  it  had  been  as  a  second 
home  to  him  in  the  days  of  his  childhood ;  it  was 
now  more  than  a  second  home  to  him ;  the  tenderest 
ties  of  his  life  bound  him  to  the  spot  and  the  most 
yearning  desire  of  his  heart  was  to  bring  all  the  peace, 
all  the  pleasure,  all  the  hope,  all  the  happiness,  all  the 
joy,  all  the  sunshine,  that  it  was  possible  for  him  to 
secure,  and  lay  all  at  Helen's  feet.  His  love  for  her 
was  no  boyish  passion,  no  passing  fancy,  no  bright  bub- 
ble that  was  to  glitter  for  a  time  in  the  sunlight  of  youth 
and  beauty,  and  then  to  burst  and  be  lost  amid  the  deep 
waters  of  oblivion  ;  his  affections  were  not  sweet  roses 
made  to  bloom  in  the  spring  of  opening  life  and  then  to 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  193 

wither  and  die  in  the  winter  of  declining  years,  but  a  flame 
fed  by  inexhaustible  fires,  a  fountain  flowing  from  never- 
failing  sources,  a  light  beaming  through  all  the  depths 
of  time.  He  loved  Helen ;  loved  her  truly,  tenderly,  devo- 
tedly, passionately  ;  loved  her  as  men  but  seldom  love ; 
loved  her  with  a  love  that  could  not  die ;  a  love  that 
could  never  perish ;  love  deeper  than  the  ocean,  brighter 
than  the  sky,  stronger  than  death,  more  lasting  than 
time.  He  knew  not  its  beginning,  but  he  knew  that  it 
would  roll  on  to  the  shores  of  eternity.  She  was  all  in 
all  to  him — the  light  of  his  life,  the  joy  of  his  heart,  the 
fountain-head  of  his  happiness,  the  very  centre  of  his  soul. 
And  his  love  for  her  was  not  more  beautiful  than  his 
trust,  for  his  trust  was  perfect.  Sooner  far  would  he  have 
expected  to  see  the  bright  stars  start  from  their  high 
home  in  heaven  and  fall  to  earth  a  burning  mass,  than 
to  see  her  swerve  from  the  path  of  rectitude.  He  believed 
in  the  purity  of  her  character,  the  nobility  of  her  nature, 
and  the  gentleness  of  her  disposition  as  he  believed  in  the 
splendors  of  the  sunlight.  Time  could  not  change  her,  nor 
could  worlds  corrupt  her;  neither  could  all  the  trouping 
wealth  of  infidelity  lead  her  astray.  Her  breath  the  angels 
might  breathe ;  in  her  presence  the  sweet  incense  of  purity 
was  exhaled.  He  believed  also  in  her  love  for  him ;  he 
believed  in  it  as  he  believed  in  his  love  for  her. 

Her  pleasure,  her  comfort,  her  happiness,  her  welfare 
never  escaped  his  thoughts.  Her  lightest  words  of  love 
were  bright  jewels  in  his  heart,  and  her  more  tender 
expressions  of  affection  the  treasures  of  his  soul.  Their 
love  was  as  love  should  be — not  the  flash  of  the  meteor, 
but  the  warm  glow  of  the  summer's  sun;  not  the  bright 
light  of  the  changing  moon,  but  the  glory  of  the  star  that 
never  pales  ;  not  the  all-consuming  fire  of  raging  passion, 
that  dies  with  the  gratification,  but  a  bright  and  beauti- 
ful flame  burning  without  a  flicker  upon  the  altar  of  pure, 
unselfish  love,  fed  from  the  fountains  of  immortality. 
13 


194  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

They  were  happy — happy  in  mutual  trust,  mutual  con- 
fidence, and  undying  faitli.  On  the  sea  of  their  glory 
no  uncertain  ship  had  ever  sailed,  nor  had  the  waves  of 
doubt  ever  broken  upon  their  shore.  Their  hope  was  as 
clear  and  unclouded,  as  bright  and  as  beautiful  as  the 
azure  blue  of  yon  arching  sky. 

Charles  and  Helen  had  spent  the  most  of  the  morning 
with  Colonel  Moore,  despite  the  good  old  Doctor's  kind 
assurance  that  all  was  well.  He  had  kept  his  promise 
and  called  during  the  afternoon,  and  as  he  left,  told  them 
that  the  slight  cut  on  the  temple  was  all  that  there  was 
of  it,  and  that  this  was  no  cause  for  fear;  yet  they  could 
not  suppress  a  vague  feeling  of  anxiety.  They  were 
restless  because  they  were  anxious,  and  nervous  because 
they  were  restless,  but  they  strove  hard  to  suppress  all 
expression  of  feeling.  They  had  both  noticed  the  absent- 
minded,  abstracted  manner  which  Colonel  Moore  tried  to 
conceal,  and  they  both  had  been  deeply  absorbed  in  a 
vain  endeavor  to  unveil  the  cause.  It  was  unlike  him, 
and  this  it  was  that  gave  them  trouble.  They  could  not 
tell,  but  they  both  could  but  thmk  that  in  some  myste- 
rious way  the  sad  mishap  of  tlie  last  evening  was  the 
occasion,  if  not  the  cause,  of  the  strange,  abstracted  air. 
Once  or  twice  during  the  day  ilieysaw  him  looking  at 
them  thoughtfully  and  approvingly  when  they  were  sit- 
ting together,  and  late  in  the  afternoon  he  came  up 
behind  them,  and,  when  they  turned  and  smilingly  looked 
up  at  him,  he  placed  a  hand  on  each  of  their  heads  and 
said  in  a  tender  voice,  "God  bless  you,  my  children — may 
God  bless  you  both-"  then  without  another  word  turned 
and  left  the  room. 


CIIAPTEE  XVI. 

MR.  REED  was  delayed  in  leaving  for  Richmond  by 
the  mishap  at  the  Grove.  He  was  unwilling  to  go 
away  and  leave  his  old  friend  as  long  as  there  was  a  possi- 
bility that  his  assistance  might  be  needed,  but  now  that 
Colonel  Moore  was  up  and  out  again,  the  departure  was 
fixed  for  the  morrow. 

Charles  was  to  go  over  that  afternoon  to  see  his  father 
off,  who  had  decided  to  leave  early  the  next  morning. 
As  Charles  was  leaving  the  Grove  he  found  old  Uncle 
Ben  sitting  on  the  stile  quietly  skinning  a  fishing  pole,  in 
which  work  he  seemed  much  interested. 

"Good  evening,  Uncle  Ben;  how  are  you  this  even- 
ing?" 

"  Good  evening,  Mars  Charles,  good  evening,"  replied 
the  old  man ;  "  I  is  quite  well  thank  you,  only  the  rheu- 
matis  is  er  pinching  me  on  the  shoulder  a  little  bit  dis 
evening,  udder  wise  I  am  'bout  as  common;  but  1  is 
glad  to  see  you.  Mars  Charles,  I  is  glad  to  see  you.  I  was 
jes  sittin'  here  in  de  sunshine  a  skinnin'  dis  pole  and 
thinkin'  on  you,  when  I  seed  you  a  comin'  down  de  paff". 
I  knowed  'twas  you,  soon  as  I  seed  you,  aldo  des  old  eyes 
uv  mine  be  a  gittin'  a  little  old,  I  knowed  your  walk. 
God  bless  you,  Mars  Charles,  I  knowed  your  walk.  1 
knowed  you  when  you  was  a  baby,  mose  fore  you  knowed 
yoursefF,  and  I  is  often  said,  I  is,  I  neber  seed  a  finer  baby 
dan  you  was,  and  you  ain't  loss  none  dem  good  looks 
nudder,  eben  do  you  dun  grow  to  be  a  man  bigger  dan  me, 
and  time  was  when  Ben  didn't  tink  heself  no  small  chap." 

"  But  you  must  not  flatter  me,  Uncle  Ben ;  you  will  spoil 
me^  and  make  me  think  too  well  of  myself." 
(195) 


196  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

"No  danger  uvdat,  Mars  Charles,  no  danger  uv  dat;  me 
don't  mean  to  do  dat,  do.  Don't  mean  to  make  you 
tink  more  on  yourseff  dan  you  got  right  to  do,  for  stuck 
up  folks,  rich  or  poor,  is  what  Ben  got  no  use  fer.  But 
no  danger  u v  you  bein'  stuck  up,  Mars  Charles,  case  quality 
folks  like  you  don't  git  stuck  up.  'Tis  low,  poor  white 
trash  what  ain't  got  no  backin'  dat  gits  stuck  up.  Now 
ef  one  uv  dem  sort,  who  is  shamed  ef  you,  ax  him  whar 
he  come  from,  or  who  was  hes  pa,  hab  a  little  good  luck, 
and  git  a  little  money,  and  come  to  own  a  nigger  or  two, 
den  you  see  stuck-up  folks,  and  old  Ben  got  no  use  fer 
dem  kine,  no  more  dan  he  ain't.  I  was  a  tellin'  my  Polly 
no  furder  back  dan  lass  night,  dat  it  seem  somehow  dat  a 
nigger — and  I  don't  mean  any  disaspec  to  my  race,  Mars 
Charles,  when  I  say  nigger,  fer  dat  word  only  has  busi- 
ness to  color  and  de  color  is  got  nuffin'  to  do  wid  de  quality 
uv  de  caricter,fer  I  rudder  be  a  good  nigger  ebery  day  in 
de  week  dan  to  be  a  mean  white  man." 

"That  is  so,  Uncle  Ben." 

"Yes  dat  is  so,  Mars  Charles,  Ben  knows  dat  is  so;  but 
I  was  jes  a  sayin'  jes  now  dat  I  was  a  tellin'  my  Polly 
no  fudder  back  dan  lass  night  dat  somehow  a  nigger 
could  tell  white  folks  what  is  got  good  blood  from  white 
folks  M^hat  ain't  got  no  good  blood.  'Tis  so,  Mars  Charles, 
blood  will  tell.  I  said  to  my  Polly  no  fudder  back  dan 
lass  night  when  we  were  congugatin'  on  dis  same  subject, 
blood  will  tell. 

"  Old  Ponto  dar  knows  difference  twix  a  partrich  and 
a  fe-lark,  do  day  boff  hide  in  de  grass,  and  so  ssijs  I  to 
my  Polly,  dat  is  dog's  nater.  God  made  him  so  to  know, 
and  jes  so,  says  I,  it  seems  dat  a  nigger  can  tell  a  gentle- 
mun  when  he  sees  liim,  makes  no  odds  what  kind  uv 
clothes  he  wars." 

"  I  believe  you  are  right,  Uncle  Ben,  I  believe  that  is  so." 

"In  course  'tis  so,  Mars  Charles,  in  course  'tis  so.  'Tis 
obveous  to  de  obsevervation:  it  stands  to  resun.     'Tis  our 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE,  197 

nater,  and  ef  you  ain't  in  no  hurry,  Mars  Charles,  I  be 
glad  to  explain  to  you  jes  how  'tis." 

"Oil!  no,  I  am  in  no  hurry,  Uncle  Ben;  I  like  to  hear 
you  talk." 

''Tank  you,  Mars  Charles,  tank  you,  and  dat  is  what 
makes  me  say  what  I  do  say,  and  dat  is  dat  it  is  de  respec 
what  a  gentmun  shows  to  de  poor  colored  person  dat 
argufies  his  breedin' 

*'  I  tell  my  Polly  when  we  was  a  conjugatin'  on  dis  sub- 
jic  dat  fine  fethers  not  gwine  to  make  fine  birds,  no  more 
dan  shiny  boots  makes  a  gentmun.  Mars  Charles,  you 
see  dat  old  cropper-crown  rooster  a  conwiscatin'  around 
yonder?  Now,  he  is  jes  de  finest-fethered  rooster  in  all 
dis  yard.  He  looks  good,  now  don't  he?  But  he  is  been 
scratchin'  des  low  ground  uv  sorrow  so  long  I  spec  you 
would  have  to  bile  him  mose  a  week  afore  you  could  eat 
him,  and  jes  so,  Mars  Charles,  you  is  got  to  school  one 
uv  des  comer-ups  a  long  time  afore  he  larn  all  de  ways 
uv  good  breedin'." 

"  Why,  Uncle  Ben,  you  are  quite  a  philosopher." 

"I  don't  know  'bout  dat,  INIars  Charles.  I  don't  eszactly 
know  what  flosopher  mean,  but  what  I  do  know  I  know 
gis  as  easy  as  you  know  your  pa,  and  one  ting  dat  I  do 
know,  and  dat  is  dat  Ben  can  tell  a  gentmun  whan  he 
sees  him,  and  dat  none  uv  des  new  comer-ups  can't  fool 
him,  no  matter  how  slick  he  got  he  hat,  nor  how  white 
he  hands  be,  nor  how  shiny  he  brush  he  boots. 

"  Ben  don't  look  at  des  tings,  but  Ben  he  looks  at  de 
cut  uv  de  eye,  and  pay  no  'tention  to  de  cut  uv  de  coat. 
De  tailor  he  cut  de  coat.  Mars  Charles,  but  dis  er  comer-up 
he  got  to  cut  hes  own  eye. 

"Mars  Charles, 'tis  no  use  talkin',  de  marners  uv  a 
gentmun  will  tell,  and  de  marners  uv  a  comer-up  is  gwine 
to  tell,  too.  Now,  jes  let  me  'lustrate  what  I  mean. 
'Spose  you  got  a  ax  what  is  dulL  What  you  want? 
^^^^J}  yo^  want  to  grind  dat  ax.     Now,  'spose  you  got  no 


198  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

grindstone.  "What  you  gwine  to  do  ?  Why,  in  course 
you  gwine  to  take  de  ax  ober  to  de  nabor's  house,  and 
when  you  git  ober  dar  and  sees  your  nabor,  how  is  you 
gwine  to  act?  Why,  you  smile  and  look  friendly,  and 
spoke  soft  and  say, '  Mornin',  sir — good  morniii'.'  (You  is 
got  a  ax  to  grind,  you  know).  Says  you,  'I  is  got  a  little 
choppin'  fur  to  do,  and  ef  you  be  so  kind  I  be  glad  ef 
you  jes  let  me  tech  up  my  ax  a  little  on  your  grind- 
stone.' 

'"In  course,' says  your  nabor;  'in  course,  sir,' and  he 
dun  say  soft-like  to  hesseff,  *  You  is  a  very  nice  gentmun; 
you  is  so  nice  'bout  de  grindin'.'  Now,  jes  so,  Mars 
Charles,  des  comer-us  when  day  come  round  'bout  you 
day  smile  and  bow  and  look  glad.  Day  want  somefrin. 
Day  want  you  to  take  dera  in  j^our  set.  Day  want  to 
sit  wid  you  at  your  table  and  ride  wid  you  in  3'our  car- 
ridge,  and  have  you  spoke  to  dem  when  udder  gentmun 
are  about.  Mars  Charles,  day  is  got  a  ax  to  grind,  and  a 
dull  ax  at  dat,  I'll  bet;  so  day  eber  so  nice  in  dar  make 
believes  dat  day  is  somebody.  But  when  day  lebe  you 
and  git  wid  a  poor  man  what  ain't  yet  had  no  good  luck 
den  day  is  differ'nt.  Now  day  is  got  no  ax  to  grind, 
'cause  why?  Day  knows  what  day  was,  and  day  'spec' 
somebody  gwine  to  incognize  dem  ;  so  day  git  as  fur  away 
as  day  kin.  And  jes  so  day  expose  de  very  ting  day  try 
to  hide. 

'"Tis  so,  Mars  Charles — 'tis  eben  so.  Don't  3'ou  see 
how  'tis?" 

"  Yes,  indeed,  Uncle  Ben.  You  are  right.  I  see  just 
how  it  is." 

''Iknowed  you  would  see  hit,  !Mars  Charles,  ef  I  'splain 
it  to  you.  You  would  not  be  Mars  Dabney  Reed's  son 
ef  you.  could  not  see  a  ting  made  plain  as  dat.  But  I 
'spec  I  dun  keep  you  here  talkin'  wid  me  too  long.  ]\Iaybe 
you  want  to  be  gwine.  I  was  doin'  my  best  to  skin  dis 
fishin'  pole  and  trim  it  xi-p  nice  fer  you  by  de  time  you 


YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE.  199 

got  ready  to  go  home.  I  heared  Jim  say  what  you  said 
when  you  broke  dat  udder  pole  what  I  made  for  j^ou  be 
fore,  and  I  say  to  myseff  den  I  gvvine  make  him.  a  nud- 
der  one." 

"Yes,  I  was  real  sorry  that  I  broke  that  pole.  Uncle 
Ben ;  I  thought  a  great  deal  of  it." 

"Never  mind  'bout  dat  now,  Mars  Charles;  dis  one 
gwine  to  be  jes  as  nice  as  dat  was,  and  ef  you  had  jes 
staid  up  dar  in  de  house  talkin'  wid  Miss  Helen  a  little 
while  longer,  I  would  dun  have  it  ready  for  you.  But 
ef  you  is  in  a  hurry,  Mars  Charles,  I  will  come  ober  to  de 
Abbey  and  fetch  de  pole  to  you  in  de  mornin'." 

"  Oil!  no;  I  am  in  no  hurry.  Uncle  Bon;  1  have  plenty 
of  time.     I  can  wait." 

"Well;  I  is  most  done  it  now.  I  is  jes  got  to  trim  des 
knots  a  little  to  make  dem  look  nice." 

Then  the  old  man  worked  away  in  silence  for  a  few 
moments,  while  Charles  stood  and  watched  him.  The 
old  negro  stopped  and  set  his  head  to  one  side,  as  though 
a  new  train  of  thought  had  s'ruck  him.  He  ran  his 
thumb  along  the  pole  to  see  if  it  was  smooth,  and  then, 
in  rather  a  changed  tone  of  voice,  asked: 

"Mars  Charles,  who  is  dis  young  man  who  is  cum  out 
here  fur  to  see  you?" 

"His  name  is  Dodge,  Uncle  Ben;  "William  Dodge.  He 
is  one  of  my  old  college  friends;  we  were  in  the  same 
class,  and  graduated  at  the  same  time.  He  is  a  very  dear 
friend  of  mine." 

"You  like  him  den,  Mars  Charles?" 

"Yes,  Uncle  Ben,  I  like  him  very  much.  He  is  very 
smart  and  most  pleasant  company." 

"Whar  he  cum  from,  IMars  Charles?  Do  3'ou  know 
his  folks?" 

"His  home  is  in  Washington,  Uncle  Ben,  but  I  do  not 
know  his  people.  I  do  not  think,  though,  that  he  stays  in 
Washington  very  much." 


200  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

"Is  his  father  and  mother  livin',Mars  Charles?" 

"I  don't  know,  Uncle  Ben.  I  have  never  heard  him 
speak  of  his  father,  and  only  once  of  his  mother.  He 
does  not  seem  disposed  to  talk  about  his  home  affairs." 

The  old  negro  was  silent  for  a  moment;  be  seemed  to 
be  examining  the  pole  with  great  care.  Then  he  said, 
speaking  as  though  more  to  himself  than  to  Charles  : 

"  lie  don't  like  to  talk  about  his  ma  and  pa.  Maybe 
he  don't  love  his  ma  and  pa." 

"Oh,  yes,  I  reckon  he  does.  Uncle  Ben.  He  seems  to 
have  an  affectionate  dis])Osition." 

"  Well,"  sighed  the  old  man,  "  dat  mought  be,  but  I 
loves  to  talk  of  my  dear  old  mother  and  father,  though 
they  have  been  dead  now  nigh  on  to  thirty  years.  Lass 
week  I  planted  a  rose  bush  dar  by  thar  graves,  and  I 
trimmed  up  de  one  I  put  dar  many  years  ago.  Mars 
Charles,  we  don't  hab  but  one  mother  and  one  father  in 
dis  world;  only  one.  Mars  Charlos,  and  I  am  not  gwine 
to  be  undisposed  to  talk  uf  my  dear  old  mother  and 
father  as  long" 

The  old  man  turned  his  head  away  and  wiped  his  eyes 
with  the  back  of  his  hand.  Again  he  ran  his  thumb 
along  the  fishing  pole,  while  Charles  stood  by  in  silence, 
too  much  touched  in  feeling  by  the  old  negro's  expression 
of  emotion  to  venture  any  remark. 

At  last  the  old  man  continued,  without  looking  at 
Charles,  shaking  his  head  as  he  spoke: 

"  I  is  bound  he  don't  love  his  mother,  and  dat  man 
what  don't  love  his  mother  aint" 

But  the  old  man's  heart  was  too  full;  first  one  hand 
and  then  the  other  went  up  to  his  eyes  to  brush  away  the 
silent  tears  that  gathered  there.  Charles  felt  all  that  the 
old  man  would  say,  and  the  choking  sensation  in  his 
throat  and  the  moisture  in  his  eyes  told  of  his  sympathy 
and  the  tenderness  of  his  feelings.  At  last,  with  an 
effort  the  old  man  said: 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  201 

"Dar  she  is,  ISIars  Charles.  Dar  is  your  fishing  pole, 
and  a  good  one  I  think  she  is." 

"Thank  you,  Uncle  Ben,  and  this  from  me  in  return." 
And  Charles  laid  his  silk  handkerchief  on  the  old  man's 
arm  and  turned  and  walked  away  in  silence. 

They  both  understood.  Their  hearts  were  touched. 
They  needed  no  words;  no  explanation  was  necessary. 
That  silent  parting  was  more  eloquent  than  words  can 
express.  That  old  man's  skin  was  black ;  his  tongue  was 
untutored  in  the  ways  of  classic  English,  and  the  woolly 
white  knaps  which  crowned  his  head  marked  him  a 
descendant  of  that  dusky  race  which  still  breathes  the 
free  air  of  the  sultry  clime  of  Africa  while  they  dance  in 
heathen  darkness  around  the  flesh-pots  of  captive  vic- 
tims. But  there  was  beating  in  the  breast  of  that  patient 
slave  a  heart  as  true,  as  gentle,  as  tender  as  ever  warmed 
the  life-blood  of  Caucassian  Prince  or  Mongolian  Poten- 
tate; and  in  that  simple  soul  a  Christian  light  was  shin- 
ing whose  dazzling  splendors  would  have  darkened  the 
flickering  rays  that  struggled  with  ambition  and  pride 
in  the  hearts  of  the  brilliant  Horace  Greeley  or  the  match- 
less pulpit  orator,  the  world-famed  Henry  Ward  Beecher. 


CHAPTER  XYII 

A  "WEEK  or  more  had  passed  since  the  occurrence  of 
the  events  related  in  the  kist  chapter,  Mr.  Eeed 
had  gone  North  bearing  messages  of  love,  of  trust,  of  con- 
fidence, and  of  peace  from  Virginia  to  her  sister  States 
beyond  the  Potomac.  Quite  a  number  of  her  most  influ- 
ential citizens  had  met  in  Richmond  in  response  to  the 
suggestion  of  Mr.  Thornton,  and,  in  an  informal  but  dulv 
patriotic  way,  had  fully  discussed  the  all-important  crisis  of 
the  hour.  In  that  meeting  there  was  but  one  opinion 
among  them — South  Carolina  would  secede,  and  Georgia, 
Florida,  Alabama,  and  Mississippi  would  be  likely  to  fol- 
low in  quick  succession.  Then  what?  If  the  Union  was 
to  be  saved  Virginia  would  have  to  do  it.  This  was  the 
opinion  of  the  North  and  of  all  the  less  disaffected  States 
of  the  South.  All  eyes  were  turned  to  Virginia,  and  the 
grand  old  Commonwealth — the  mother  of  States  and  of 
statesmen,  the  land  of  chivalry  and  the  land  of  song,  the 
land  of  oratory  and  the  home  of  poesy — arose  in  all  the 
majesty  of  her  power,  crowned  with  the  full  splendors 
of  her  pristine  glory,  and  gave  to  the  cause  of  peace  the 
influence  of  her  patriotic  example,  the  splendors  of  her 
dauntless  courage,  and  the  weight  of  her  exalted  name. 
She  stood  before  the  world  the  grandest  picture  in  re- 
corded time — a  suppliant  and  a  queen;  a  royal  mother 
pleading  to  assuage  the  kindling  wrath  between  her  em- 
bittered children.  In  her  strong  right  hand  she  held 
and  waved  aloft  the  glorious  flag  of  the  Federal  Union — 
that  ensign  beneath  whose  folds  her  Washington  had  led 
the  sons  of  freedom  on  to  the  goal  of  victory,  and  there  es- 
tablished the  principles  of  constitutional  liberty;  while 
(202) 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  203 

in  ner  left  s^e  waved  the  olive  branch  of  peace.  From 
side  to  side  she  turned,  and  high  o'er  the  world  she  waved 
that  mighty  flag  as  she  weaved  amid  its  fluttering  folds 
the  olive  branch  of  peace.  Stay!  Oh,  stay!  she  cried, 
the  red  hand  of  war.  The  spirit  of  Washington,  with 
his  sword,  and  Franklin,  in  his  prayers,  rise  from  their 
graves  and  in  their  reanimated  dust  bid  you  stay  the 
fratricidal  blow.  That  voice,  in  swelling  echoes,  rang 
out  over  all  the  land,  and  back  from  untold  millions  of 
patriotic  hearts.  North  and  South,  a  loving  response  came 
borne.  That  prayer  to  Virginia's  honor  and  Virginia's 
glory  stands  recorded  upon  the  never-fading  pages  of  her 
immortal  history.  And  that  prayer,  to  her  unspeakable 
honor  and  eternal  glory,  still  lives  and  breathes  and 
vibrates  through  the  high  courts  of  heaven  on  up  to  the 
throne  of  infinite  mercy  and  unerring  justice.  And 
when  the  tide  of  time  shall  cease  to  roll  and  purging  fires 
lick  dry  the  waters  deep  and  melt  to  cinders  the  proud 
abode  of  men,  and  all  the  gathering  host  of  earth,  called 
from  the  living  and  the  dead,  shall  go  trooping  on  to  the 
judgment  bar,  methinks  that  prayer  for  peace  will  be 
found  recorded  in  the  book  of  eternal  life.  Virginia 
loved  the  Union,  and  she  tried  hard  to  preserve  it.  She 
sent  her  sons  to  the  North  and  to  the  South,  and  bade 
them  plead  for  peace.  To  the  South  she  said,  "Wait,  be 
not  too  hasty."  To  her  sisters  of  the  North  she  said, 
''Give,  oh!  give  but  the  rights  the  Constitutio-n  pledges, 
and  the  South  will  be  satisfied."  But  alas!  the  frailty  of 
man;  alas!  but  too  oft  the  forum  of  reason  is  closed  by 
the  whirlwind  of  passion,  and  the  pleading  voice  of 
sober  judgment  is  hushed  amid  the  roar  of  the  storm. 
And  so  it  was,  and  so  it  ever  will  be,  for  blind  are  the 
eyes  of  prejudice  and  deaf  are  the  ears  of  anger.  Truth, 
with  all  the  splendors  of  the  summer's  sun,  may  shine 
along  its  path,  but  it  sees  it  not.  The  voice  of  reason 
may  in  deep  tones  of  earnest  feeling  plead  in  endless 


204  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

prayers  and  roll  in  all  the  melodies  of  heavenly  accord, 
but  the  ears  of  passion  and  prejudice  are  deaf — stone 
deaf — naught  can  be  heard.  Justice,  clothed  in  all  the 
robes  of  beauty  and  crowned  with  a  circling  chaplet  of 
purity,  made  brilliant  by  the  flashing  light  of  truth  and 
the  priceless  jewels  of  right  and  equity,  may  stand  for- 
ward imploring  to  be  heard,  but  her  pleading  voice  is 
only  raised  to  be  mingled  with  the  din  and  clash  of  mad 
contention.  Oh  I  justice  !  what  terrible  deeds  of  wrong 
and  oppression  ha^e  been  enacted  in  thy  name,  what 
bloody  crimes,  W'hat  cruel  butcheries  hast  thou  too  oft 
been  invoked  to  aid  and  approve.  The  crucifixion  of 
Christ,  the  martyrdom  of  the  Apostles,  the  burning  of 
Cramner,  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  were  laid  to 
thy  decree.  The  execution  of  Mary,  the  beheading  of 
Kaleigh,  the  torturing  of  Joan,  and  the  butchery  of  Louis 
and  Marie  Antoinette  were  enacted  in  thy  most  holy 
name.  The  burning  of  Carthage,  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  the  dismemberment  of  Poland,  and  the  assassi- 
nation of  Caesar  were  claimed  to  have  been  blessed  by  thy 
approving  smile.  From  thy  high  and  holy  and  grandly 
exalted  home  in  heaven,  passion  and  prejudice,  pride  and 
auger,  sin  and  selfishness,  have  dragged  thee  down 
to  earth,  covered  thee  with  dust  and  ashes  and  smoking 
cinders,  and  besmeared  thy  fair  face  with  the  stains  of 
unholy  war  and  the  blood  of  martyred  saints  and  Chris- 
tian patriots.  Yet,  despite  the  desecration  of  thy  altars, 
we  know  that  thou  art  a  real  divinity,  a  part  and  parcel 
of  that  eternal,  never-changing,  never-shifting  truth, 
which  was  present  in  the  beginning  when  creation  rolled 
complete  in  obedience  to  the  fiat  of  Omnipotent  Power. 
Yes,  we  bless  the  faith  despite  the  wrongs  of  men,  which 
we  still  find  reflected  in  our  hearts.  And  that  faith 
teaches  us  to  believe  in  right  and  truth  and  justice,  un- 
changing, never-shifting,  ever-standing,  absolute,  and  im- 
mutable. 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  205 

Man  is  human ;  man  may  err.  God  is  infinite,  and  to 
Him  right  and  justice  belong.  No  man's  conscience  ought 
by  man  to  be  impeached,  for  to  him  it  is  the  rule  and 
guide  of  his  life,  and  he  must  obey  that  high  behest.  I 
claim  not  infallibility  for  the  conscience.  I  only  claim  for 
it  exemption  from  man's  condemnation.  I  confess  that 
the  judgment  from  which  his  conscience  springs,  the  con- 
ception of  right  and  wrong  from  which  the  emotions 
flow  are  subject  to  error.  So,  see  to  it  upon  what  founda- 
tion you  build.  See  to  it  that  every  avenue  of  light  is 
left  open.  See  to  it  that  you  be  not  slothful  in  your  pur- 
suit after  truth.  See  to  it  that  selfishness  and  pride  and 
love  of  power  hold  no  place  in  the  courts  of  judgment. 
See  to  it  that  the  ease  and  comforts  of  old  beaten  paths 
in  which  some  friend  has  walked  be  not  proof  to  you 
sufficient  that  there  lies  the  royal  road.  Eternal,  untir- 
ing vigilance  is  the  price  of  peace  on  high,  for  right  can 
never  be  wrong  with  God,  nor  can  wrong  be  approved  in 
heaven.  In  the  scales  of  divine  justice  right  and  wrong 
can  never  balance.  Between  the  two,  poor  human  judg- 
ment may  stumble  and  fall,  and  fall  blindly,  because 
benighted  by  the  darkness  of  sin. 

In  the  political  as  in  the  moral  world  our  ideas  of  jus- 
tice and  right  depend,  alas!  too  often  upon  surrounding 
circumstances.  Custom  and  habit  and  education  shape 
our  thoughts,  control  our  emotions  and  render  our  judg- 
ments. It  is  in  part  the  infirmities  of  human  nature. 
Yet,  in  matters  of  truth,  resting  entirely  upon  matters  of 
fact,  there  ought  not  to  be  any  difterence  of  opinion  be- 
tween intelligent  minds,  for  the  same  truths  clearly  un- 
derstood ought  to  harmonize  in  judgment,  and  the  same 
conscientious  emotions  ought  to  follow.  It  is  not  the 
fault  of  truth,  nor  fallibility,  in  the  conception  of  right 
and  wrong.  The  source  of  error  lies  in  the  erroneous 
conception  of  facts.  Justice  and  right  depend  upon  a 
full  and  clear  understanding  of  the  facts;  a  full  and  clear 


206  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE, 

understanding  of  fiicts  depend  upon  the  sources  and 
opportunities  of  information  and  presupposes  an  unbiased 
mind.  Conscientious  conviction  is  but  the  culmination 
of  honest  opinions  entertained ;  and  an  opinion  is  the 
product  of  thought,  exercised  in  relation  to  some  subject 
matter  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  intellectual  facul- 
ties. Facts  are  the  bases  upon  which  thought  builds 
the  superstructure,  and  that  superstructure  is  firm  and 
solid  only  when  all  the  facts  are  rightly  conceived  and 
properly  adjusted.  So  an  error  as  to  any  one  fact  mars 
the  perfection  of  the  whole.  The  eye  of  God  is  alone 
omniscient,  and  so  the  judgments  of  heaven  are  alone 
unerringly  just. 

Man  is  but  a  frail  creature  of  the  dust,  appointed  for  a 
season  to  breathe  the  breath  of  life,  and  to  pass  from 
earth.  He  is  short  of  sight,  weak  of  limb,  and  limited 
in  the  grasp  of  his  intellectual  endowments,  and  in  his 
groping  even  after  light  itself  he  often,  stumbles.  The 
ways  of  pleasure  are  so  alluring,  the  paths  of  ease  so 
attractive,  the  approaches  of  temptation  so  beguiling,  the 
whispers  of  seduction  so  soft,  and  the  pleading  of  selfish- 
ness so  earnest,  while  the  flattery  of  pride  and  ambition 
is  so  sweet,  the  poor  unsuspecting  human  heart  is  but  too 
often  led  captive  and  the  judgment  victimized.  The 
fault  lies  not  in  the  conscientious  conviction  when  that 
conviction  has  been  reached,  but  in  the  steps  of  error 
which  have  led  to  that  conviction  and  established  that 
judgment. 

The  right  well  distinguished  but  somewhat  scholastic 
philosophical  writer,  Dr.  John  AV.  Draper,  of  the  New 
York  University,  in  treating  of  the  causes  and  convic- 
tions which  brought  about  the  civil  war,  says:  "There  is 
a  political  force  in  ideas  which  silently  renders  protesta- 
tions, promises,  and  guarantees,  no  matter  in  what  good 
faith  they  may  have  been  given,  of  no  avail,  and  which 
makes  constitutions  obsolete;  and  that  against  the  un- 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  207 

controllable  growth  of  the  anti-slavery  idea  the  South 
was  forced  to  contend." 

This  was  a  confession  remarkable  in  that  it  clearly 
shows  that  the  North  had  come  to  feel  that  their  promises 
and  guarantees  were  not  binding  on  their  consciences; 
and  that  the  good  faith  of  the  constitution  was  antiquated 
and  its  obligations  obsolete.  In  other  words,  the  North 
confess  the  infraction  of  the  constitution  and  plead  con- 
scientious convictions  in  justification.  They  claim  free- 
dom of  conscience  even  to  the  extent  of  deliberately 
breaking  a  most  solemn  compact.  Yet  they  condemn  the 
South  for  its  condemation  of  their  broken  faith,  which  is 
equally  as  conscientious. 

That  kind  of  philosophy  which  accounts  for  the  civil 
war  as  the  result  of  the  force  of  ideas  silently  working 
a  change  of  heart,  and  culminating  in  conscientious  con- 
victions, without  ascribing  any  moral  accountability  to 
the  process  of  change,  is  fatalism  of  the  very  w^orst  kind, 
for  such  philosophy  assigns  consequences  to  antecedents 
and  places  no  control  in  the  human  will  over  either,  and 
in  the  end  denies  all  accountability  which  make  responsi- 
bility a  myth.  Such  philosophy  lays  the  axe  at  the  very 
root  of  Christian  religion — sweeps  morality  into  the  vor- 
tex of  chance  and  shuts  out  the  light  of  hope  and  the 
immortality  of  the  soul. 

True,  philosophy  teaches  men  to  watch  lest  they  do  err; 
to  consider  lest  they  do  go  astray,  and  to  feel  and  confess 
their  accountability  for  every  step  and  every  pause  along 
the  path  of  life,  lest  they  wander  through  the  gates  of 
error  into  the  realms  of  darkness. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

MR.  REED,  in  his  travels  through  the  North,  was  every- 
where i^ceived  with  tlie  kindest  feelings  and  treated 
with  the  utmost  respect.  The  messenger  of  peace  from 
Virginia  was  greeted  with  the  warnDest  welcome,  and 
every  encouragement  given  him  to  hope  that  all  that 
could  be  done  would  be  done,  not  only  to  pacify  the  more 
disaffected  States  of  the  South,  but  also  to  rectify  the 
wrongs  which  were  admitted  to  have  been  clone  by  many 
of  the  States  of  the  North  in  the  matter  of  the  constitu- 
tional guarantees  which  liad  been  so  openly  disregarded. 

Mass-meetings  were  held  all  over  the  North,  and  the 
popular  theme  was  what  must  be  done  to  placate  the 
deeply  offended  and  almost  hopelessly  alieniated  South. 
On  the  10th  of  December  Mayor  Henry,  of  Philadelphia, 
issued  a  proclamation  by  advice  of  the  City  Councils, 
calling  upon  the  whole  people  to  meet  en  masse  on  the 
13th  instant,  in  Independence  Square,  to  consult  together 
in  view  of  the  pending  crisis.  He  invoked  them  to  come 
as  "loyal  citizens,  prepared  to  cast  off  the  spirit  of  party 
and  in  a  special  and  unequivocal  manner  to  declare  their 
unfailing  fidelity  to  the  Union  and  their  abiding  faith  in 
the  constitution  and  the  laws." 

The  meeting  was  held  accordingly,  and  thousands  and 
thousands  of  the  good  citizens  of  the  city  responded  to 
the  call  and  came  together  under  the  brilliantly  illumi- 
nated square.  Prayer  was  offered  by  one  of  the  most 
eminent  divines  of  the  State,  after  which  the  speaking 
was  initiated  by  the  distinguished  Mayor  himself,  who 
spoke  at  considerable  length  with  great  eloquence  and 
intense  earnestness.  He  called  upon  his  hearers  "to  dis- 
(208) 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  200 

card  all  sordid  and  selfish  views  and  to  avow  their  un- 
broken attachment  to  the  Union,"  and  "their  determina- 
tion to  leave  no  honest  effort  untried  to  preserve  its 
integrity."  And  then,  warming  with  his  subject  as  he 
proceeded,  said: 

"  3Iy  Fellow- Citizens :  I  should  be  false  to  the  position  in 
which  you  have  placed  me  ;  I  should  be  recreant  to  my 
sense  of  duty  if  I  withheld  an  avowal  of  the  truths 
which  this  occasion  demands,  I  speak  to  you  frankly. 
I  tell  you  that  if  in  any  portion  of  our  confederacy  senti- 
ments have  been  entertained  and  cherished  which  are 
inimical  to  the  civil  rights  and  social  institutions  of  any 
other  portion,  these  sentiments  should  be  relinquished 
and  discontinued.  The  family  discipline  which  you 
choose  to  adopt  for  your  own  fireside,  when  it  does  not 
violate  the  law  under  which  you  dwell,  is  your  rightful 
prerogative,  and  you  are  prompt  to  resist  the  intermed- 
dling of  others,  however  well  intended.  The  social  insti- 
tutions of  each  State  in  this  Union  are  equally  the  right- 
ful prerogative  of  its  own  citizens,  and  so  long  as  their 
institutions  do  not  contravene  the  principles  of  your 
Federal  compact  none  may  justly  interfere  with  or  right- 
fully denounce  them. 

"The  efficient  cause  of  the  distracted  condition  of  our 
country  is  to  be  found  in  the  prevalent  belief  of  the  citi- 
zens of  the  South  that  their  brethren  of  tlie  North  are,  as 
a  community,  arrayed  against  a  social  institution  which 
they  regard  as  essential  to  their  prosperity.  You  are 
ready  to  aver  truthfully  that  such  belief  is  mistaken  and 
unfounded.  But  it  becomes  you  all  who  are  actuated  by 
an  earnest  brotherhood  to  see  to  it  that  where  public  sen- 
timent is  mistaken  that  it  be  restored  to  its  standpoint  of 
twenty-five  years  ago. 

"The  misplaced  teaching  of  the  pulpit,  the  unwise 
rhapsodies  of  the  lecture-room,  the  exciting  appeals  of 
the  press  on  the  subject  of  slavery  must  be  frowned  down 
14 


210  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE, 

by  a  just  and  law-abiding  people.  Thus,  and  thus  only, 
may  you  hope  to  avoid  the  sectional  discord,  agitation, 
and  animosity,  which,  at  frequently  recurring  periods, 
have  shaken  your  political  fabric  to  its  centre  and  at  last 
have  undermined  its  very  foundations. 

"We  are  one  country.  It  will  be  united  in  peace  or  in 
war.  You  may  see,  perhaps,  legions  brought  against 
legions  in  a  domestic  fury  that  shall  be  worse  than  the 
fury  of  a  foreign  enemy.  And  they  will  be  united  in 
doing  harm,  while  we,  in  the  centre  of  the  country,  will 
endeavor  to  interpose  kindness  and  peace  in  order  to  re- 
store the  country  to  the  situation  in  which  it  was  left  at 
the  death  of  Washington. 

"  Let  us  be  determined  to  maintain  the  rights  of  the 
whole  country  and  extend  the  feeling  of  friendship  over 
all  the  land.  Let  us  immediately  and  unconditionally 
repeal  the  State  act  passed  in  antagonism  to  the  fugitive- 
slave  law,  which  is  the  law  of  Congress  and  the  law  of 
our  common  country." 

Judge  Woodward  of  the  State  supreme  court,  then  fol- 
lowed and  said  J 

"Fellow- Citizens:  The  inexorable  exclusion  of  slave 
property  from  the  common  territories,  which  the  general 
government  holds  in  trust  for  the  people  of  all  the  States, 
is  a  natural  and  direct  step  towards  the  grand  result  of 
extinguishing  slave  property,  and  was  one  of  the  recorded 
issues  of  the  late  election.  The  South  has  heard  your 
judgment;  she  owns  the  property  that  you,  by  your  ver- 
dict, hp.ve  determined  to  shut  out  from  the  territories,  and 
to  have  restricted,  cribbed  and  confined  more  and  more, 
until  it  is  finally  extinguished.  Could  you  expect  her  to 
be  indifferent  to  such  events  as  here  occured  ?  Could  you 
expect  her  to  stand  idle  and  see  measures  con cerf.e<1  and  car- 
ried forward  for  the  annihilation  of  her  property  in  slaves? 

"The  Anglo-Saxon  loves  liberty  above  all  other  men, 
but  he  is  not  indifferent  to  gain  and  profit,  and  when  it 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  211 

had  been  discovered  that  the  unwelcome  workers  could  be 
turned  to  profitable  account  in  the  Soutliern  States,  in 
the  production  of  some  of  the  great  staples  of  life,  and 
that  the  North,  which  could  not  employ  them  profitably, 
would  be  benefited  by  such  employment  at  the  South, 
they  sold  out  slavery  to  the  South  and  received  a  full 
equivalent,  not  only  in  the  cash  down,  but  in  the  manu- 
facturing and  commercial  prosperity,  which  grow  up  from 
the  production  of  slave  labor. 

"When  the  constitution  came  to  be  formed,  the  love  of 
liberty  was  as  strong  as  ever,  and  as  strong  at  the  South 
as  at  the  North,  and  the  love  of  gain  was  common  to  both 
sections.  Here  were  two  master  passions  to  be  adjusted, 
and  they  were  adjusted  by  mutual  compromise  and 
mutual  concessions,  and  the  more  perfect  Union  was 
formed.  They  framed  tlie  constitution,  and  it  stands  to 
challenge  the  admiration  of  the  w^orld,  and  the  admira- 
tion of  the  world,  for  the  motive  of  its  founders,  is  swal- 
lowed up  in  wonder  at  the  success  of  their  work ;  but  all 
this  the  '  irrepressible  con  flict'  ignores.  Passion  has  burn- 
ed out  all  memories  of  the  compromise  and  the  compact 
in  the  States  of  the  North,  and  now,  under  the  false  name 
of  liberty  bills,  obstructed  the  due  execution  of  the  bar- 
gain. Whence  comes  this  intense  sensibility  that  cannot 
bear  a  few  slaves  in  a  remote  territory  until  the  people 
there  be  able  to  establish  a  constitution?  What  does 
that  editor  or  that  preacher  know  of  tlie  Union  or  of  the 
men  who  made  it — he  who  habitually  reviles  and  mis- 
represents the  "Southern  people,  and  excites  the  igno- 
rant and  the  thoughtless  in  our  midst  to  hate  and  persecute 
them  ?  It  would  seem  *hat  the  government  that  was  all 
sufficient  for  the  country  seventy  yeais  ago,  when  soil 
and  climate  and  State  sovereignty  were  trusted  to  regulate 
the  spread  of  slavery,  is  now  insufficient  to-day,  because 
every  upstart  politician  can  stir  the  people  to  mutiny 
against  the  domestic  institutions  of  the  South.    Now, 


212  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

hocause  the  ribald  jests  of  seditious  editors,  like  Greeley 
and  Beeclier,  can  sway  legislatures  and  popular  votes 
against  the  handiwork  of  Washington  and  Franklin, 
Hamilton  and  Madison,  and  Gouvnir  Morris.  When  the 
scurrilous  libels,  as  such  a  book  as  Helper's  has  become 
a  favorite  campaign  document,  and  are  accepted  by 
thousands  as  law  and  gospel.  When  jealousy  and  hate 
have  extinguished  all  our  fraternal  feelings,  for  those  who 
were  born  brethren,  and  who  have  done  us  no  harm." 

Mr.  Charles  E.  Lex,  a  prominent  lawyer  of  the  State, 
who,  it  is  said,  had  voted  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  then  took  the 
stand  and  urged  that  the  North  rectify  the  errors  which  he 
admitted,  and  that  they  do  stand  by  the  constitutional 
obligations,  he  said: 

*'Ml/  Fellow- Citizens  of  Philadelplda:  I  appea^  to  you  to 
rise  in  the  sincerity  of  your  hearts  and  speak  the  word 
of  comfort  to  our  disaffected  brethren  of  the  South.  Let 
us  show  them  that  "we  are  not  alienated  from  them  in  our 
affections.  Let  us  arise  in  our  manhood  and  do  our  duty 
and  retrace  every  false  step  we  have  taken.  If  our 
Southern  brethren  are  really  aggrieved  by  any  law  now 
standing  upon  our  statute  book  opposed  to  their  rights; 
ifj  upon  examination,  any  such  are  found  to  be  in  conflict 
with  the  constitution  of  these  United  States,  nay,  if  they 
but  serve  to  irritate  our  brethren  of  the  South,  let  us  see 
to  it  that  they  be  repealed.  If  this  grand  old  Common- 
wealth has  done  any  wrong  or  inflicted  any  injury  she  is 
noble  enough  to  manfully  repair  it.  If  it  shall  appear 
that  we  have  erred  by  reason  of  our  feelings,  and  our 
judgment  has  been  warped  by  passion  or  by  prejudice,  let 
us  confess  the  fault;  let  the  fugitive-slave  law  be  (as  it  is 
written  in  the  constitution)  enforced  in  all  its  spirit  and 
intent.  It  is  the  law  of  the  land,  let  it  be  implicitly 
obeyed ;  and  all  State  law  that  is  in  conflict  with  it  let  us 
repeal.  Let  us, too,  submit  to  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  TJnited  States — that  court  is  the  great  bul- 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  213 

wark  of  the  constitution,  its  judgments  should  be  final 
and  conclusive,  and  we  have  no  right  to  question  it.  Let 
us  discontinue  and  discountenance  every  denunciation  of 
slavery  and  of  those  who  maintain  the  institution, 
whether  they  are  promulgated  in  the  lecture-room,  at  the 
political  gathering,  or  from  the  sacred  desk." 

Mr.  Lex  was  followed  by  the  distinguished  Theodore 
Cuyler,  who  said : 

''Fellow- Citizens:  Let  us  of  the  North  get  back  to  our 
true  position.  Let  us  first  set  the  example  of  perfect 
obedience  to  the  constitution  and  the  laws;  and  when  we 
shall  have  pulled  the  beam  from  our  own  eyes  we  may 
talk  to  our  brethren  of  the  mote  in  theirs.  Let  us  obey 
the  laws  of  Congress  and  return,  as  we  are  obligated,  the 
fugitive  from  labor.  Let  us  repeal  our  obnoxious  liberty 
bills — these  mean  evasions  of  plain  duty.  We  are  bound 
by  a  sacred  compact  not  to  interfere  o-r  meddle  with  the 
institution  of  slavery ;  and  yet,  the  pulpit  and  the  press 
and  many  of  our  public  halls  are  eloquent  with  violent 
and  inflammatory  appeals  touching  this  subject. 

"Who  shall  say,  fellow-citizens,  how  much  of  our 
present  peril  springs  from  this  very  cause?  Can  we  won- 
der that  our  Southern  brethren  feel  that  the  hearts  of  their 
Northern  fellow-citizens  are  shut  against  them  ?  Can  we 
forget  that  these  appeals  have  reached  the  slaves,  incit- 
ing them  to  insurrection,  and  thus  filling  with  dread 
and  apprehension  the  once  quiet  and  happy  homes  of 
the  South  ? 

"  I  appeal  to  you  earnestly,  to  each  of  you  individually, 
by  every  lawful  means  in  your  power,  to  put  an  end  to 
the  violent  and  inflammatory  discussion  of  this  unhappy 
subject.  The  past,  the  present,  and  the  future  appeal  to 
you  to  be  true  to  your  country  and  to  yourselves. 

''Never  before  has  constitutional  liberty  assumed  so 
fair  a  form;  never  before  has  any  people  been  so  speedily 
and  safely  borne  to  happiness  and  prosperity ;  until  now 


214  YAJJKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

the  imagination  sinks  in  the  effort  to  contemplate  that 
glorious  future  on  whose  threshold  our  feet  have  stood. 
Can  it  be  that  madness  and  fanaticism,  can  it  be  that  self- 
ishness and  sectionalism,  are  about  to  destroy  this  noblest 
form  of  government,  freighted,  as  it  is,  with  the  highest 
hopes  of  humanity?" 

These  expressions  of  amity,  trust  and  affection  gave  Mr. 
Reed  very  great  satisfaction ;  he  listened  to  them  with 
mingled  feelings  of  national  pride  and  admiration.  Their 
sincerity  could  not  be  questioned ;  and  the  manliness  dis- 
played in  every  word,  and  the  moral  courage  breathed  in 
every  sentence,  challenged  the  highest  commendation. 
The  speeches  were  copied  in  all  of  the  Virginia  papers, 
and  were  read  with  unsurpressed  delight.  They  showed, 
at  least  to  the  satisfaction  of  Virginia,  and  to  a  majority 
of  the  other  Southern  States,  that  the  good  and  true  men 
of  the  North  were  still  loyal  to  the  Federal  compact ;  were 
still  true  to  the  principles  of  their  forefathers,  and  were 
still  ready  and  willing,  nay  anxious,  to  be  guided  by  the 
spirit  of  justice,  and  to  deal  fairly  and  equitably  with 
their  brethren  of  the  South. 

They  had  the  manliness  to  confess  that  they  had  not 
kept  the  faith  and  the  honesty  to  pledge  atonement  for 
the  wrong.  The  great  body  of  the  Northern  people  were 
indifferent  in  the  matter  of  slavery  so  long  as  it  was 
restricted  within  the  Southern  States ;  but  the  hot-heads 
and  opened-mouthed  politicians  talked  long,  and  talked 
loud,  and  made  a  great  show,  and  the  South  was  foolish 
enough  and  weak  enough  to  suffer  itself  to  become  exas- 
perated by  the  howls  of  the  fanatics,  who  were  ambitious 
to  pose  as  humanitarians,  but  at  the  expense,  inconveni- 
ence and  questionable  experiment  of  other  people. 

The  most  intelligent,  refined  and  cultivated  people  of 
the  South  looked  upon.  African  slavery,  not  as  a  curse 
to  the  slave  then  domiciled  there,  nor  as  a  source  of  groat 
wealth  and   profit,  but  as  a   relation   between   the  two 


Yankee  doodle  dixie.  215 

races,  the  best  that  could  be  suggested  under  existing 
circumstances.  The  South  looked  upon  the  subordina- 
tion of  the  African  as  congenial  to  his  moral  nature  as  a 
warm  climate  is  to  his  physical  welfare.  Unkindness  to 
him  awakens  resentment,  but  servitude  alone  carries  no 
sense  of  degradation  fatal  to  his  self-respect. 

In  the  eloquent  language  of  a  close  observer  of  that 
period,  the  South  but  regarded  the  African  slave  as  "still 
filling  that  humble  and  subordinate  place  which,  as  the 
pictured  monuments  of  Egypt  attest,  he  has  occupied 
since  the  dawn  of  history ;  a  race  which,  during  the  long 
revolving  cycles  of  intervening  time,  has  founded  no  em- 
pire, built  no  towered  city,  invented  no  art,  discovered  no 
truth,  bequeathed  no  everlasting  possession  to  the  future 
through  law-giver,  hero,  bard,  or  benefactor  of  men ;  a 
race  which,  though  lifted  immeasurably  above  its  native 
barbarism  by  the  refining  influences  of  Christian  servitude, 
has  yet  given  no  sign  of  living  and  self-sustaining  cul- 
ture. 

"  Free  them,  and  they  will  have  to  elbow  for  place  and 
power  and  struggle  for  existence  with  a  composite  race 
which  has  incorporated  into  its  bosom  all  the  vital  ele- 
ments of  human  progress;  which,  crowned  with  the 
traditions  of  history  and  bearing  in  its  hands  the  most, 
precious  trophies  of  civilization,  still  rejoices  in  the  over- 
flowing energy,  the  abounding  strength,  the  unconquer- 
able will  which  have  made  it  '  the  heir  of  all  the  ages,' 
and  which,  with  aspirations  unsatisfied  by  centuries  of 
toil  and  achievement,  still  vexes  sea  and  land  with  it-s 
busy  industry,  binds  coy  nature  faster  in  its  chains,  em- 
bellishes life  more  prodigally  with  its  arts,  kindles  a  wider 
inspiration  from  the  fountain  lights  of  freedom,  and  fol- 
lows knowledge  like  a  shining  star  beyond  the  utmost 
bounds  of  human  thought." 


216  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.' 

In  a  contest  between  two  such  races,  vrho  can  doubt 
what  the  issue  will  be  ?  Northern  philanthropy,  blinded 
by  zeal  in  the  pursuit  of  its  present  purpose,  overlooks 
this  difference  between  the  races,  and  sees  not  the  warfare 
which  they  inaugurate,  which  will  finally  leave  the  poor 
slave  to  fight  in  all  the  coming  j^ears  of  race  contention. 
The  star  of  their  destiny,  reflecting  the  light  of  the  newly 
risen  sun  of  freedom,  may  shine  out  with  some  luster  for 
a  time,  but  its  flickering  rays  will  soon  be  dazzled  by  the 
splendid  orb  of  Caucasian  power,  and  by  and  by  a  dark- 
ness and  a  gloom,  a  servitude  and  a  degradation,  will  fall 
upon  that  ill-fated  race  a  thousand  times  more  galling 
than  that  recognized  by  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  endured  by  the  slaves  of  the  South. 

So  thought  and  taught,  felt  and  believed,  Dabney  Heed, 
of  Virginia,  and  so  still  says  this  humble  narrator;  but 
over  the  long  years  that  are  yet  to  come  the  veil  of  futur- 
ity is  spread,  and  time  alone  can  unroll  the  panoramic 
picture. 

Dabney  Keed  did  his  duty  to  tlie  best  of  his  ability, 
guided  by  the  light  of  a  clear  conscience  as  it  then  cast 
its  rays  upon  his  heart.  But  the  storm  was  coming,  the 
North  and  the  South  could  see  it,  as  it  gathered  in  heavy 
black  folds  all  along  the  horizon ;  and  all  could  hear  the 
deep  muttering  tones  of  anger  and  wrath  that  rolled 
nearer  and  nearer  as  they  gathered  in  volume.  The 
North  was  sincere  and  stood  in  painful  anxiety  watching 
that  rising  storm.  The  South  was  sincere  and  made 
haste  to  weather  the  ship  of  State  from  the  floods  of 
passion. 

Nearer  and  nearer  those  black  clouds  rolled,  and  louder 
and  louder  those  mutterings  grew,  and  fierce  the  winds 
did  blow.  South  Carolina  could  not  be  satisfied,  "  Revolu- 
tion's, she  said,  never  roll  backward."  They  must  climb 
the  waves  of  opposition  and  reach  the  shore  in  safety  or 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  217 

'they  must  beat  and  break  upon  the  rocks  of  adversity. 
And  so  Virginia's  prayer  for  peace  was  hushed  amid  the 
roar  of  that  coming  storm. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  1860,  South  Carolina  seceded. 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida,  Mississippi,  Louisiana  and 
Texas  followed  in  quick  succession.  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  Tennessee,  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Arkansas,  Dela- 
ware and  Maryland  held  back ;  and  thus  matters  stood 
for  quite  a  while. 


/     \ 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  strange  and  most  extraordinary  vision  which 
Colonel  Moore  had  experienced  made  a  deep  and 
lasting  impression  upon  his  mind.  The  vision  was 
so  real,  so  clearly  remembered,  so  vivid  in  the  recollec- 
tion that  it  was  impossible  for  him  (as  he  sometimes  tried) 
to  persuade  himself  that  it  was  all  a  dream.  "  No,"  he 
would  say,  *'  it  could  not  have  been  a  dream.  I  saw  it 
with  my  own  wakeful  eyes,  and  I  know  that  I  was  not 
asleep.  I  had  been  dreaming,  that  I  distinctly  remember, 
and  I  was  lying  there  thinking  of  the  dream  when  I  saw 
the  light  begin  to  brighten  on  the  wall  Yes,  I  saw  her 
face;  there  can  be  no  mistake.  It  was  her  own 
sweet  face.  It  was  the  face  of  my  own  sweet  sainted  Helen. 
Only  a  few  hours  before  that  I  had  prayed  and  cried, 
Helen,  oh,  Helen,  pray  to  the  Father  that  I  may  come 
and  be  with  thee.  Can  it  be,  that  she  in  the  spirit-land 
heard  that  prayer  and  heeded  that  cry  and  came  in  that 
bright  vision  to  show  the  welcome  I  am  soon  to  receive 
in  the  realms  of  light  ?  It  must  be  so  ;  indeed,  it  must  be 
so.  I  feel  it  in  my  heart.  Ifeelajoy,arealjoy  inmysoul 
and  a  peaceful  light  around  me  I  never  felt  before.  Yes, 
I  know  'tis  so ;  I  am  going  soon,  going  to  the  better  land, 
going  to  my  peaceful  home  on  high  going  to  be  with 
Helen  and  near  my  blessed  Saviour." 

The  old  man  smiled,  clasped  his  hands  and  looked 
toward  the  bright  blue  sky.  He  was  not  afraid,  he  be- 
lieved in  the  invocation,  "  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled," 
and  in  his  heart  he  felt  that  he  could  sincerely  say,  "  I 
know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth." 

(21S) 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  219 

Charles  and  Helen  could  but  note  the  change  that  had 
been  wrought  in  Colonel  Moore  ;  he  was  more  than  cheer- 
ful ;  at  times  he  was  almost  hysteric,  but  amid  all  this 
flow  of  happiness  there  was  a  strangeness  of  manner  they 
could  not  understand.  He  had  ever  been  the  most  kind, 
affectionate,  attentive  and  indulgent  of  fathers ;  but  now 
all  this  would  but  poorly  express  the  sentiment  with  which 
he  regarded  his  daughter.  Her  slighest  wishes  and  most 
trivial  desires  were  objects  of  his  greatest  care ;  he  follow- 
ed her  every  motion  wdth  his  eyes,  and  studied  her  wants 
with  almost  painful  anxiety. 

This  change  rather  distressed  Helen  than  made  her 
happy,  and  at  times,  when  her  father  was  most  intently 
absorbed  about  her  welfare,  she  could  scarcely  suppress 
the  tears  which  came  to  her  eyes.  Sometimes,  when  she 
would  look  up  suddenly  and  catch  the  half  sad  but 
tender  loving  expression  of  his  face,  she  would  go  to  his 
side  and  kneel  at  his  feet,  and  put  her  arms  about  his 
neck,  and  try  by  her  look  to  persuade  him,  that  if  there 
was  anything  on  his  mind  to  tell  it  to  her ;  but  he  would 
only  push  back  the  hair  from  her  forehead,  and  press  his 
lips  to  her  brow,  and  say,  "  I  love  you,  my  child ;  your 
old  father  loves  you  so  dearly."  And  then,  as  their  eyes 
met,  and  gazed  into  each  other,  each  saw  and  felt  and 
confessed  the  deep,  earnest  attachment  of  soul  united  to 
soul.  She  tried  to  say, "  What  is  it,  father ;"  but  the  words 
died  on  her  lips  or  were  choked  in  her  throat.  He  tried 
to  say,  "  I  am  going,  my  child,  going  to  leave  you ;  "  but 
the  words  welled  up  in  his  heart,  and  his  voice  was  hush- 
ed ill  the  suppressed  sob.  And  so  the  days  rolled  by, 
and  each  one  knew  that  there  was  a  secret,  and  a  secret 
where  none  had  ever  been  before. 

Charles  came  often,  and  Helen  told  him  of  all  her  fears. 
He  tried  to  comfort  her  with  sincere  assurances  that  her 
father's  mind  was  still  in  full  vigor  and  clear  as  a  crystal. 


220  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

The  tender  affection  displayed,  he  told  her,  was  but  the 
natural  result  of  declining  years,  perhaps  coupled  with 
thoughts  of  general  failing  health.  He,  too,  of  course,  had 
noticed  the  change  of  manner,  and  had  tried  hard  to  solve 
the  mystery,  but  without  perfect  satisfaction  to  himself;  but 
he  was  positive  that  it  was  in  no  sense  due  to  the  slightest 
mental  aberration.  Dr.  Hall  had  been  questioned  on  the 
subject,  and  he,  too,  held  to  the  same  views  as  Cliarles. 
This  assurance  of  her  best  and  most  trusted  friends  was 
of  great  comfort  to  Helen;  still,  thoughts  once  impressed 
upon  the  mind  are  hard  to  completely  expel.  Mr.  Dodge 
had  been  questioned  cautiously  by  Charles,  but  Mr.  Dodge 
had  noticed  nothing  which  indicated  the  slighest  change 
in  Colonel  Moore;  he  stated  "that  he  had  been  a  great 
deal  with  the  Colonel  of  late,  in  fact  much  more  since  the 
mishap  than  before  the  accident ;  but  their  conversations 
had  been  for  the  most  part  upon  intellectual  and  scien- 
tific subjects,  and  that  he  had  found  the  Colonel  much 
better  versed  in  such  matters  than  he  had  previously 
supposed." 

Their  last  conversation,  he  said,  had  been  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  the  arrest,  trial  and  execution  of  ^lajor  Andre, 
every  detail  of  which  seemed  perfectly  familiar  to  the 
Colonel's  memory.  So  the  mystery  deepened,  and  so  the 
web  of  deception  woven  by  the  wily  Dodge  grew  larger 
and  stronger,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  that  inexplicable 
character. 

Colonel  Moore  had,  indeed,  of  late  shown  a  strong  incli- 
nation to  court  the  society  of  "  the  visiting  Statesman," 
and  Mr.  Dodge  professed  to  find  in  the-  Colonel  a  most 
interesting  and  congenial  companion,  despite  the  dis- 
parity of  their  ages.  Helen  and  Charles  had  noticed  the 
growing  intimacy,  and  had  rather  encouraged  it  than 
otherwise,  hoping  that  the  intellectual  conversations  of 
the  brilliant  scientist  would  prove  a  happy  diversion;  and 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  221 

SO  the  intimacy  increased  until  tlie  good  old  man  was 
scarcely  satisfied  unless  he  was  basking  in  the  sunlight 
of  the  sweet  smile  which  ever  played  over  the  features 
of  the  magic  face  of  the  young  collegiate. 

To  all,  this  intimacy  was  really  a  source  of  pleasure, 
except  old  Ben.  That  whole-souled  old  negro  still  dis- 
trusted Mr.  Dodge,  and  felt  uneasy  accordingly.  But  he 
saw  no  opportunity  to  interfere,  so  was  forced  to  wait  and 
watch. 

Mr.  Dodge  had  taken  an  early  opportunity  to  relate  to 
Colonel  Moore  the  circumstances  of  a  psychological  dis- 
cussion which  he  had  held  with  one  of  the  professors  just 
before  the  close  of  his  college  term.  Mr.  Dodge,  for  rea- 
sons of  his  own,  was  not  too  scrupulously  exact  in  his 
statement  of  the  facts.  He  stated  that  one  of  the  students 
had  had  a  strange  dream.  He  thought  that  he  was 
standing  on  the  bank  of  a  beautiful  stream  in  the  early 
morning  hour,  watching  the  sparkling,  rippling  waters  as 
they  danced  in  the  light  of  the  rising  sun.  The  birds 
were  singing  their  springtime  songs,  and  the  fresh  flow- 
ers, full  of  fragrance,  were  smiling  brightly  as  they  peeped 
from  Tinder  the  grass  or  over  the  green  leaves.  The 
voice  of  the  waters  seemed  to  mingle  with  the  songs  of 
the  birds  and  the  sigh  of  uhe  zephyrs,  and  the  murmur- 
ing sound  seemed  to  float  away  over  the  water  in  the 
sweet  cadence  of  a  heavenly  anthem.  The  dreamer  felt 
his  soul  enraptured  by  the  enchanting  melody  and  the 
charm  of  the  sequestered  spot,  and  gave  himself  up  to 
pleasing  meditations.  Thus  he  lingered  and  drank  in 
the  beauty  of  the  scenery— the  joy  of  the  hour-^the  soft 
breathing  music  and  the  sweet  freshness  of  the  air,  until 
there  came  and  stood  by  him  a  man  draped  in  long  flovving 
robes,  loose  and  spotless  white.  The  face  of  the  man  was 
shining  bright;  so  bright  the  dreamer's  eyes  could  not  meet 
the  dazzling  splendor,  and  so  he  stood  as  one  blinded ; 


222  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

but  though  he  could  not  see,  a  feelmg  of  delight  and  lov9 
crept  over  him  and  into  his  heart,  and  he  knew  that  the 
figure  there  beside  him  was  the  spirit  of  his  father.  And 
then  the  spirit  spoke,  and  the  voice  was  sweet,  like  the 
music  of  crystal  chimes,  and  it  said  "  come,  my  son, 
this  stream  is  the  river  of  Jordan ;  let  us  cross  to  the 
promised  land  of  Canaan."  Just  here  the  dreamer  was 
aroused  by  the  vividness  of  the  dream,  and  sitting  up  in 
bed,  told  the  circumstance  to  his  room-mate,  who  had  not 
yet  retired.  Several  weeks  passed  and  the  dream  was 
almost  forgotten  by  the  room-mate,  when  one  Saturday 
the  students  asked  permission  to  go  down  on  the  river  to 
bathe.  The  first  to  undress  was  young  Randson,  the  friend 
of  the  pleasing  dream ;  and  noticing  as  he  sprang  into 
the  water  some  beautiful  wild  honey-suckles  growing  on 
the  farther  shore,  he  said,  "  come,boys,  let's  swim  for  the 
land  where  the  sweet  flowers  bloom,"  and  with  this 
remark  he  struck  out  with  a  manly  arm  to  pull  for  the 
opposite  bank.  When  he  reached  the  middle  of  the 
stream  he  was  taken  suddenly  with  the  cramp  in  his  side; 
he  threw  up  his  arms,  gave  one  loud  scream  and  sank  to 
rise  no  more. 

That  evening  the  President  of  the  college  received  a 
telegram  which  said:  "  Scott  Randson  's  father  was  killed 
to-dav  at  noon  by  a  railroad  collision — break  the  news 
gently." 

"This  most  singular  dream  and  remarkable  coinci- 
dence," said  Mr.  Dodge,  "became  the  subject  of  much  com- 
inent,and  many  discussions  among  the  studentsand  finally 
received  tlie  attention  of  the  Professor  of  JMental  Philoso- 
phy in  one  of  his  lectures,  and  afterwards  at  the  house 
of  the  Professor  they  had  joined  issue  as  to  whether  the 
prophetic  dream  was  the  manifestation  of  some  super- 
natural agency,  or  a  mere  coincidence — the  Professor 
holding  to  the  negative  of  the  question,  and  discrediting 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  223 

all  spiritualistic  manifestations,  while  he,  Mr.  Dodge, 
maintained  the  opposite  view." 

Mr.  Dodge  then  proceeded  to  state  his  views  and  beliefs 
at  considerable  length.  He  stated  that  his  opinions  were 
firmly  fixed,  and  that  they  were  not  based  upon  vague, 
uncertain  and  questionable  ground,  but  upon  well-authen- 
ticated facts. 

He  said  besides  the  testimony  of  some  whose  veracity 
it  would  be  folly  to  place  in  doubt,  he  intimated,  though 
he  did  not  care  to  speak  of  it,  that  he  himself  had  passed 
through  experiences,  which  could  not  admit  of  any  doubt 
in  his  mind,  and  which  could  not  be  explained  away  by 
the  theory  of  coincidence.  He  continued  to  speak  in  this 
connection  for  some  time,  and  warming  with  his  subject, 
said  with  earnestness:  "The  philosophers  of  the  old 
school  would  have  us  believe  that  all  of  our  knowledge 
of  the  outward  world  is  derived  through  the  senses  and 
from  deductions  drawn  by  the  intellectual  faculty  from 
data  furnished  by  the  senses,  and  they  limit  the  senses  to 
five  in  number — sight,  taste,  smell,  touch  and  hearing. 
This,  they  say,  completes  the  list  of  the  perceptive  faculties 
and  is  the  only  foundation  and  source  of  knowledge." 
"Yet,"  said  he,  "these  so-called  philosophic  writers  are  so 
illogical  as  to  admit  that  there  are  phenomena  not  to  be  ac- 
counted for  by  any  of  these  senses.  For  they  relate  how  the 
somnambulist  rises  from  his  bed  at  midnight,  and  in  pitch- 
black  darkness  dresses  with  taste  and  care,  and  then 
goes  forth  and  scales  heights  never  trod  before  by  mortal 
foot,  and  with  unerring  step  walks  along  the  verge  of  the 
yawning  precipice,  or  enters  the  cold,  damp, slippery,  sub- 
terranean cave  where  no  ray  of  light  has  ever  pierced." 
"Can  it  be,"  asked  he,  "that  the  sleeper  was  guided  by 
taste,smell,  touch  or  hearing?  Change  the  subject,  and  now 
the  midnight  rambler  will  arise,  take  pen,  ink  and  paper, 
and  without  a  light,  without  a  glimmering  spark,  will 


224  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

proceed  to  compose  and  write  dow:i  sermons,  lectures,  or 
speeches  as  his  vocation  suggests,  and  having  written  at 
length  to  his  satisfaction  will  turn  back  and  read  the 
whole,  from  beginning  to  end,  with  a  clear,  distinct  voice, 
and  with  proper  emphasis  and  appropriate  gesture.  If  a 
passage  does  not  suit  him  he  will  erase  it,  and  write  tlio 
correction  in  its  proper  place,  and  as  he  reads  will  care- 
fully dot  his  i's  and  cross  his  t's.  Again  the  subject 
changes  and  the  genius  of  the  artist  soars  up  to  perfec- 
tion, in  midnight  darkness,  and  that  during  an  hour  of 
unconscious  somnambulism,  when  nature  seems  to  be  at 
rest  and  the  vexed  soul  is  freed  from  oppressing  care. 
Then  it  seems  that  the  immortal  spirit  is  enabled  to  ap- 
proach divine  perfection  and  reproduce  on  the  glowing 
canvass  the  delicate  tints  of  the  blooming  rose,  or  the 
glowing  splendors  of  tlie  azure  sky.  "  These,"  said  ]\Ir. 
Dodge,  *'are  historical  facts  duly  recorded  and  open  to  the 
perusal  of  every  student  of  mental  science.  To  which  of 
the  five  senses  shall  we  go  to  ask  for  an  intelligent  explana- 
tion? To  what  faculty  of  the  soul  or  mind  shall  we  turn 
to  trace  these  extraordinary  phenomena?  Light  has  been 
supplied  in  the  midst  of  the  deepest  darkness;  from  what 
mysterious  source  are  the  rays  sent  fortli?  Knowledge  of 
objects  far  distant,  never  seen,  never  heard  of,  never  the 
subject  of  past  conception,  has  been  correctly  obtained. 
From  what  source  does  this  information  como?  Skill  has 
been  acquired,  never  hoped  for,  never  dreamed  of.  From 
what  realm  of  beauty  did  the  inspiration  come?  Who 
can  make  true  answer  unless  he  possess  the  omniscient 
eye?  Philosophy  gives  us  no  information,  furnishes  no 
explanation,  sheds  on  the  subject  not  so  much  as  one 
glimmering  ray  of  light,  and  barely  condescends  to  notice 
the  subject  further  than  to  indulge  in  dogmatic  denials 
or  cry:  *  Falderal  fiddle-sticks.'" 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  225 

"Yet,  despite  the  disrepute  into  which  this  branch  of 
psychological  science  has  been  dragged,  no  less  a  person 
than,  the  distinguished  Bishop  Haven, of  the  Theological 
Seminary  of  Chicago,  has  asked  the  question,"  "  May  there 
not  be  an  inner  consciousness,a  hidden  soul-life  not  depen- 
dent on  the  bodily  organization,  which  at  times  comes 
forth  into  development,  and  manifests  itself  when  the 
usual  relations  of  the  body  and  soul  are  disturbed  or  suspen- 
ded," and  then,  continuing,  says:  "  AVe  must  admit  that  in 
certain  disordered  and  highl}^  excited  states  of  the  nervous 
system,  the  soul  can,  and  does,  sometimes  perceive,  what 
under  ordinary  circumstances  is  not  preceptible  to  the 
eye,  or  to  the  ear ;  nay  even  dispenses  with  the  use  of  our 
senses,  so-called,  altogether."  "If  this  be  true,"  said  Mr. 
Dodge,  speaking  earnestly  and  looking  hard  at  Colonel 
Moore,  "who  will  deny  that  there  may  be  communica- 
tions direct  or  indirect  between  the  saints  of  heaven  and 
the  loving  souls  of  this  earth."  "  I  believe  it,"  said  he, 
his  tone  growing  almost  passionate.  "Let  them  call  this 
power  or  ability  or  adaptation  of  the  soul ;  be  it  voluntary 
or  involuntary,  human  or  superhuman,  natural  or  super- 
natural, by  what  name  they  please,  magnetism,  mesmer- 
ism, somnambulism  or  spiritualism,  we  must  know  that 
there  are  times  when  some  people,  at  least,  can,  and  do, 
become  cognizant  of  circumstances  and  places  and  per- 
sons not  within  the  range  of  any  of  the  five  senses.  Time 
and  space  seem  to  be  annihilated  by  this  unnamed  fac- 
ulty of  the  soul,  and  the  future  as  well  as  the  present  and 
the  past  is  laid  bare  to  our  view  as  though  spread  out  in 
one  wide  panoramic  picture.  By  this  power  Samuel  was 
called  forth  from  the  grave  by  the  witch  of  Endor  to  meet 
with  Saul,  Belshazzar  by  it  read  his  fast  approaching 
doom  in  the  handwriting  on  the  wall,  and  Daniel  in  the 
dream  of  Nebuchadnezzar  saw  l^ingdoms  and  empires 
lise,  flourish  and  fall  and  Christianity  spread  all  the  world 


226  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIB!. 

over.  By  this  faculty  the  sister  of  Major  Andre  witnessed 
the  arrest,  trial  and  execution  of  lier  brother,  and  told 
his  fate  and  mourned  his  loss  long  before  the  winds  had 
M'afted  the  sad  news  across  the  deep  waters  of  the  wide 
Atlantic." 

*'  These  things  being  so,  who  is  prepared  to  deny, 
who  is  able  to  sustain  with  logical  argument,  that  there 
may  not  be  some  law  of  our  being  not  fully  understood 
by  us,  but  by  virtue  of  which  the  mind  becomes  suscep- 
tible to  impressions  not  ordinarily  received,  and  is  thus 
put  in  communication  in  some  way  to  us  mysterious  with 
scenes  and  events  far  distant  so  as  to  become  strangely 
cognizant  of  the  future." 

Mr.  Dodge  had  spoken  rapidly ;  he  was  more  excited 
than  was  his  usual  wont,  and  with  the  close  of  the  last 
remark  he  arose  and  walked  back  and  forth  across  the 
library.  Colonel  Moore  sat  as  one  spell-bound;  his  face 
was  deeply  flushed  and  beads  of  perspiration  stood  upon 
his  brow,  while  his  eyes  stared  at  Mr.  Dodge  with  an 
expression  of  mingling  terror  and  astonishment.  Back 
and  forth  walked  the  impassionate  actor;  the  muscles  of 
his  face  working  as  though  to  keep  time  with  his  over- 
wrought thoughts.  Finally  he  stopped  short  and  faced 
about  and  stood  in  front  of  Colonel  Moore  and  gazed  down 
into  the  old  man's  eyes  as  though  he  meant  to  read  his 
very  soul,  and  then  raising  his  right  arm  in  an  emphatic 
gesture  said,  "  Colonel  Moore,  I  know  your  thoughts.  I  see 
with  my  mind's  eye  the  working  of  your  brain.  I  see  that 
picture  engraven  on  your  soul,  'tis  a  vision  you  have 
seen ;  perhaps  a  dream.  I  see  it  reflected  from  the  mir- 
ror of  your  spiritual  life  upon  yonder  wall,  'tis  there — yon- 
der— there — there,  'tis  the  face  of  an  angel  robed  in  white — 
'tis  the  one  whose  image  fills  your  heart  with  rapture 
and  delight.  Go  steep  your  soul  in  the  splendors  of  that 
heaven-born  light — she  awaits  your  coming — the  scene  to 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  22? 

you  is  sacred — the  vision  is  prophetic,  'tis  your  angel  wife.  I 
leave  you  to  your  joy  ;  farewell." 

Colonel  Moore  sprang  to  his  feet  terrified  and  amazed. 
But  Mr.  Dodge  was  gone. 

"How  could  he  know?  Oh!  how  could  he  know  what 
thoughts  filled  my  mind?  To  no  living  soul  have  I 
breathed  it." 

The  old  man  sank  back  in  his  chair,  buried  his  face  in 
his  hands,  and  shook  with  emotion.  lie  wept  like  a 
child.  He  could  not  think;  he  did  not  know  what  it  all 
meant.  He  was  completely  subdued;  and  from  that  hour 
Beverly  Moore  became  as  potter's  clay  in  the  hands  of  the 
designing  William  Dodge. 

ileader,one  of  the  strange  things  in  this  life  is  the  conflict 
between  truth  and  ftilsehood,  virtue  and  vice,  right  and 
wrong,  justice  and  oppression.  And,  alas!  too  often  truth 
and  virtue,  right  and  justice,  are  borne  down  and  made 
subservient  to  powers  of  evil  passions.  But  an  abiding 
faith  tells  us  that  high  above  yon  blue  arching  sky  there 
is  a  God,  the  maker  and  builder  of  all  the  universe, 
around  whose  great  white  throne  the  shining  hosts  of 
heavenly  bodies  moved  in  grand  procession,  and  Him  reve- 
rence due  and  low  obeisance  make  as  they  pass;  and 
from  that  throne,  exalted  high  above  all  exaltation.  He, 
with  his  loving  care  and  omniscient  eye,  looks  down  in 
tender  mercy,  the  guardian  and  protector  even  of  the 
humblest  soul  that  floats  o'er  the  stream  of  time.  His 
ways  are  above  our  ways.  His  judgments  we  cannot 
comprehend.  His  mercy  and  his  goodness  our  utmost 
strength  of  thought  can  never  compass.  But  our  faith, 
thanks  be  to  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory,  can  rend 
the  vale  of  sorrow  and  pierce  the  shades  of  darkness  and 
fill  our  souls  with  light,  and  enable  us  to  be  glad  as  we 
pray,  even  in  the  midst  of  earthly  sorrows,  "Thy  will, 
not  mine,  oh  I  Lord,  be  done." 


22S  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

AVlio  hath  not  suffered  sorrow?  Who  hath  not  home 
affliction  and  oppression — endured  the  pain  and  anguish 
until  from  the  depth  of  the  soul  the  cry  comes  up, 
"My  God,  my  God^  why  hath  Thou  forsaken  me  ?"  But 
even  as  the  cry  goes  up  wafted  on  the  swift  pinions 
of  prayer,  hope  comes  speeding  down,  bringing  the  sweet 
assurance  that  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth  on 
high.  Blessed  are  they  who  endureth  to  the  end,  for 
them  there  is  laid  up  a  crown  of  eternal  glory. 

Falsehood  and  vice,  injustice  and  wrong,  may  triumph 
for  a  season.  They  are  the  fountain-heads  of  sorrow,  but 
pain  and  anguish  belong  only  to  time.  "The  body  will 
soon  be  out  of  pain,  the  soul  be  out  of  prison."  Truth 
and  justice,  virtue  and  right,  find  their  happy  home  on 
high  amid  the  realms  of  endless  joy.  The  victory  of 
wrong  may  to  the  finite  eye  seem  complete,  but  the  tri- 
umph of  truth  and  justice  w^ill  be  proclaimed  from  the 
battlements  of  Omnipotent  Power  and  the  citadel  of 
eternal  peace. 


CHAPTEE  XX. 

"  pOME,  Lovely,  let's  go  for  a  ride,"  said  Charles  as  he 

\j  stood  on  the  porch  by  Plelen's  side.  "Nellie,  your 
pet,  will  think  you  have  lost  your  appreciation  of  her 
graceful  performance,  if  you.  neglect  her  any  longer.  See 
how  quickly  she  lifts  her  beautiful  head  at  the  bare  sug- 
gestion; and  see,  too,  -what  a  glad  welcome  is  beaming  in 
her  bright  eyes  as  she  comes  to  meet  us.  She  will  enjoy 
the  lope,  and  the  exercise  will  keep  the  roses  in  bloom  on 
your  cheek  this  glad  autumn  day." 

"  That  we  will,  my  pet;  that  you  shall  have  a  nice  run, 
you  darling  horsey." 

And  Helen  ran  to  meet  the  beautiful  Day  mare  and 
threw  her  arms  around  its  arching  neck  and  kissed  her 
on  the  face,  and  patted  her  head  in  the  most  affectionate 
manner,  all  the  while  talking  to  the  noble  animal  with 
lisping  tongue  to  show  her  love  for  her  horse,  which  seemed 
to  fully  understand  and  great]y  enjoy  as  she  stood  gently 
rubbing  her  nose  against  the  cheek  of  its  mistress,  as 
though  to  express  the  appreciation  which  it  felt  for  the 
kind  caresses. 

"It  is  my  time  to  feel  neglected  and  grow  jealous  now," 
said  Charles. 

"Don't  care  if  he  does,  do  we,  Nellie;  don't  care  a  bit 
how  jealous  he  gets,  do  we,  darling?  We  are  going  to 
love  each  other  all  the  same,"  and  the  tender  patting  and 
loving  caress  grew  all  the  more  tender  and  loving.  "  Yes, 
that  you  shall  have  a  nice  lope,  you  sweet,  nice  horsey, 
and  we  will  pelt  Mr.  Charles  with  gravels,  too,  won't  we 
Nellie,  if  he  is  naughty  and  don't  behave?  Now  tell 
(229) 


230  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

Marse  Charles  to  go  and  get  your  bridle  and  saddle,  while 
I  get  my  habit,  and  we  will  run  him  a  race  and  beat  him 
and  Miss  Flora  all  to  pieces,"  and  with  this  Helen  pressed 
her  arms  around  the  neck  of  her  lovely  pet  and  said, 
"You  darling  old  horsey,  I  do  love  you  so  much." 

In  due  time  the  lovers  were  mounted  and  out  on  the 
road.  The  two  horses,  which  were  well  matched  in  size 
and  style,  were  old  rivals  for  the  right  of  way.  They 
were  both  fresh  this  afternoon,  and  swept  along  the 
smooth  road  with  a  bounding  gallop,  both  ready  and 
anxious  for  a  dash  and  willing  to  test  each  other's  speed 
and  settle  the  contest. 

"What  shall  be  the  prize  this  afternoon,  Lovely," 
asked  Charles, "if  Flora  wins  the  race?" 

"  A  bottle  of  anti-fat  for  her  rider,  that  she  may  have 
less  weight  to  carry  in  the  future,"  replied  Helen 
laughing. 

"  Do  you  hear  that,  Flora?"  said  Charles.  "  Do  you 
hear  that  banter  ?  "  And  the  spirited  black  mare  pressed 
liarder  against  the  bit  as  if  in  response,  ready  to  begin 
the  race. 

"Now  what  shall  Nellie  have  as  a  fitting  reward," 
asked  Helen,  "if  she  even  eclij^ses  all  her  former  per- 
formances and  shows  Miss  Flora  the  flashing  polish  of 
her  shoes?" 

"A  new  bridle  with  silver  curb  and  silk  reins,"  replied 
Charles. 

"And  you  hear  that,  Nellie,"  cried  Helen ;  "the  very 
thing  you  want."  And  again  the  arched  neck  of  Nellie 
was  patted  with  a  little  gloved  hand. 

"AVe  will  run,"  said  Charles,  "our  old  heat  of  half  a 
mile,  from  the  big  oak  on  the  right  of  the  road  to  the 
shade  of  the  willow  on  the  left." 

"All  right," said  Helen,  "the  road  is  wide  and  smooth 
there,  and  just  enough  gravel  at  the  close  for  Nellie  to 
give  you  the  promised  pelting." 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE  231 

"But  you  must  remember,"  said  Charles,  "that  Flora 
is  handicapped  thirty-five  pounds,  and  is  entitled  to  some 
consideration." 

"Only  thirty,"  said  Helen.  I  weigh  just  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  and  you  told  me  this  morning  you 
weighed  one  hundred  and  fifty." 

"  But  my  heart  is  full  of  love,"  said  Charles,  "  and  that 
ought  to  be  counted  weighty  matter." 

"  With  yourself,  I  know,"  laughed  Helen,  and  if  j'ou 
keep  up  with  me  in  this  race,  I  will  make  you  spill  some 
of  it  along  the  road." 

But  there  is  an  image  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds  in  my  soul,"  said  Charles,  "surely  that  ought  to 
count." 

"Let  it  counteract  your  pride  of  small  feet,  for  if, 
indeed,  you  have  so  much  in  the  soles  of  your  feet,  I  dare 
say  Miss  Flora  will  shake  your  boots  off  in  this  run." 

"I'll  beat  you  just  for  that,"  said  Charles;  and  they 
quickened  the  speed  of  their  horses  as  they  neared  the 
big  oak  tree. 

*'  If  you  can,"  said  Helen,  as  she  touched  her  horse 
with  her  whip  and  held  her  hard,  that  she  might  be  ready 
for  a  quick  start. 

"Now,  ready?"  said  Charles.  "Go!"  And  the  riders 
shook  the  reins  of  their  bridles  over  the  necks  of  the 
beautiful  horses. 

At  the  word,  each  horse  sprang  forward  like  an  arrow 
from  a  bow.  The  start  was  a  fair  one,  and  both  riders 
rode  to  win.  Away  they  flew,  swift  as  the  winds.  Neck 
and  neck  the  horses  struggled  in  desperate  rivalry,  every 
muscle  strained  to  its  utmost  tension,  striving  for  the 
goal.  Trees  and  rocks  flew  back  swifter  than  the  wings 
of  a  bird.  On,  on  and  on  they  go,  at  a  terrible  speed. 
The  victory  still  doubtful,  Charles  plied  the  whip ;  but 
the  whip  was  vain.     The  nose  of  Nellie  was  reaching  for 


232  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

the  shade  of  that  willow  tree.  Again  and  again  Charles 
plied  his  whip  and  urged  his  horse  to  her  utmost  speed; 
but  Nellie  seemed  to  lay  almost  flat  on  the  ground,  her 
nose  still  reaching  for  the  shade  of  that  willow  tree,  and 
thus  the  brilliant  bay  mare  swept,  with  her  gallant  rider, 
across  the  shadow  of  the  willow,  full  half  a  length  in 
advance. 

"Bravo!  bravo!"  cried  Charles.  "Hurrah  for  Nellie 
and  her  brave  rider!  Fairly  and  nobly  done.  I  did  my 
best  to  win  the  anti-fat,  but  I  yield  to  merit.  I  have  lost 
the  bridle.     But  it  was  the  handicap ;  want  it,  Flora?" 

"Yes,  maybe  it  was,"  laughed  Helen;  "but  minus  the 
love  and  the  image.  Confess,  Sir  Charles,  the  superior 
mettle  of  my  gallant  steed." 

"I  do  confess,"  replied  Charles,  bowing.  "But  what 
horse  could  not  run,  with  the  wings  of  an  angel  to  help 
on  the  speed?" 

"The  wings  of  that  same  angel  will  help  you  with  this 
whip  if  you  detract  one  iota  from  the  merit  of  my  noble 
Nellie. 

"  Then  here  is  a  truce  to  our  wits.  I  will  pay  the  bet 
and  buy  the  anti-fat  m^^self ;  and  when  I  am  reduced  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  we  will  run  the  race 
over  again." 

The  lovers  had  by  this  time  brought  their  horses  to  a 
walk,  and  were  slowly  riding  along  that  part  of  the  road 
where  it  wound  around  the  foot  of  a  steep  hill,  covered 
with  heavy  timber  and  thick  undergrowth.  Just  then 
they  heard  the  full  cry  of  a  pack  of  hounds  in  hot  chase, 
coming  down  the  hill,  and  almost  at  the  same  moment  a 
large  deer,  with  a  flying  leap,  bounded  over  the  fence  and 
across  the  road  just  in  front  of  them,  and  made  for  the 
river. 

"Oh!  isn't  he  beautiful!  isn't  he  beautiful!"  cried 
Helen.  "And,  oh!  just  see  how  gracefully  he  runs. 
What  tremendous  leaps  he  makes;  how  swift  he  flies." 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  238 

Just  then  the  full  pack  of  hounds  came  tearing  down 
the  hill  and  swept  across  the  road,  making  the  very  hills 
ring  with  their  chorus  of  cries. 

"  Hark ! "  cried  Charles.  *'  Hark  to  him  ! "  And  again 
and  again,  in  wild  excitement,  he  harked  on  the  flying 
dogs  to  the  chase. 

The  leading  dog  heard  the  cry,  glanced  back  a  moment, 
and  then  leaped  forward  with  increased  speed. 

"Oh  !  I  do  hope  they  won't  catch  him  !  Oh  !  don't  let 
them  kill  the  beautiful  deer ! "  cried  Helen,  her  heart  in 
her  voice  and  tears  almost  in  her  eyes. 

"No  danger  of  that,"  said  Charles;  "not  a  bit  of  it. 
That  is  Billy  on  a  bender;  and  from  the  set  of  that  proud 
head  and  the  way  he  carries  his  brush,  the  frolic  isn't 
half  over  yet." 

Helen  gave  Charles  an  enquiring  look.  She  did  not 
understand  what  he  meant. 

"That  is  my  pet  deer,  Lovely  He  w^as  bantering  the 
hounds  all  the  morning,  trying  to  provoke  them  into  a 
chase.  He  kept  worrying  first  one  and  then  another, 
trying  to  make  them  mad  to  induce  them  to  run  after 
him,  and  it  seems  that  he  finally  succeeded  in  his  efforts, 
and  I  see  that  he  has  passed  around  from  house  to  house 
until  he  has  all  the  dogs  in  the  neighborhood  enlisted  in 
his  train.  He  will  run  until  he  gets  tired,  and  then  he 
will  go  home  to  old  Aunt  Milly,  who  will  shut  him  up 
in  the  kitchen  until  the  dogs  get  home  and  quiet  down; 
then  he  will  come  out  and  walk  around  as  leisurely  as 
though  he  had  never  worried  a  dog  in  all  his  life.  You 
ought  to  hear  old  Aunt  Milly  talk  to  him  when  he  gets 
back  from  one  of  his  gay  frolics.  She  loves  the  deer,  but 
hates  the  hounds,  and  is  just  as  proud  of  Billy's  achieve- 
ments as  she  would  be  if  he  were  a  child  of  her  own. 
She  thinks  it  such  a  good  joke  on  the  dogs." 


234  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

Helen  laughed  and  clapped  her  hands  in  real  glee. 
She,  too,  took  the  part  of  tlie  mischievous  Billy,  and  like 
Aunt  Milly  considered  the  frolic  a  capital  joke  on  the 
lazy  hounds.     Then  she  cried: 

"Oh!  I  do  wish  they  would  pass  this  way  again;  it 
w^ould  be  so  nice  to  see  them  run.  You  must  give  me 
that  deer  when  " 

She  stopped  and  blushed.  Charles  caught  her  hand 
and  pressed  it,  and  then  as  she  blushed  again  he  laughed 
the  sweet,  happy  laugh  of  an  accepted  lover,  and  said; 

"Yes,  Lovely,  what  is  mine  shall  be  thine — all  thine. 
You  will  then  have  one  deer  and  one  slave,  and  I  shall 
have  in  exchange  the  sweetest  dear  that  mortal  ever 
loved." 

"Whose  chief  delight,"  said  Helen,  "will  be  to  cut 
short  your  flattery,"  and  she  smiled  and  shook  her  whip  at 
him. 

The  cry  of  the  hounds  had  died  away  in  the  distance, 
and  as  it  did  not  seem  likely  that  they  would  see  any- 
thing more  of  the  chase,  our  friends  proceeded  on  their 
ride.  They  struck  into  a  steady  lope  for  awhile,  passed 
around  the  hill,  then  up  to  the  right  through  the  woods, 
and  out  to  a  wide  field,  from  which  they  had  a  beautiful 
view  oL  the  river  and  surrounding  countr}^  There  were 
various  points  of  interest  along  the  road,  each  of  which 
attracted  their  attention  as  they  passed.  ^Midway  the 
field  a  lane  turned  off  which  led  down  to  the  river,  and 
on  a  little  bluff  just  to  the  left  they  cams  close  to  the 
ruins  of  an  old  house,  now  fast  mouldering  to  decay. 
That  old  house  had  long  stood  there,  looking  desolate — 
suggesting  sorrow — an  object  of  curiosity  to  the  whites,  a 
source  of  terror  to  the  superstitious  blacks;  for  tradition 
had  long  ago  named  it  "  the  old  haunted  house."  Helen 
pointed  to  it  as  they  passed,  and  said; 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  235 

"The  imagination  can  repeople  those  crumbling  walls, 
and  fill  those  dusty  rooms  with  love,  and  hope,  and  hap- 
piness. Happy  hearts  may  have  there  once  rejoiced  in 
mutual  trust,  and  bright,  beautiful  children  made  the  old 
home  resonant  with  innocent  laughter.  I  always  feel 
sad  when  I  look  upon  the  ruins  of  an  old,  deserted  house, 
for  I  know  it  was  once  a  home  for  somebody;  humble 
though  it  be,  yet  for  somebody  it  was  once  'home,  sweet, 
sweet  home.'"  She  paused  for  a  moment,  then  sighed 
and  continued:  *'Yes,  the  old  house  seems  now  fast 
mouldering  to  the  dust,  but  they  say  it  was  once  a  beau- 
tiful place  and  a  bright,  happy  home,  through  whose  wide 
halls  and  spacious  rooms  the  merry  laugh  of  children 
was  heard,  and  wedded  life  dwelt  in  all  its  peace  and 
loveliness.  But  now,"  she  said  with  another  sigh,  "if  we 
are  to  believe  the  exciting  recitals  of  the  colored  people, 
that  old  house  is  the  abode  of  disentombed  spirits — 
souls  that  cannot  rest  in  a  peaceful  grave  because  of  the 
dark  deeds  done  in  the  body.  At  midnight,  the  negroes 
say,  on  every  Xmas  eve  strange  sounds  of  music  are 
heard  there,  mingling  with  the  hollow  laugh  of  some 
dread  demon,  while  strange  lights  of  various  hues  pass 
flitting  from  room  to  room." 

"  Yes,"  said  Charles,  speaking  slowly  and  with  subdued 
voice,  "that  is  the  old  haunted  house,  and  dark  and  dreadful 
indeed  was  the  awful  tragedy  enacted  there,  on  that  fatal 
Xmas  night.     Of  course  you  have  heard  the  story  ?" 

"  No,  I  have  not  fully,  I  only  know  that  it  is  supposed  that 
a  bloody  murder  was  committed  there  many  years  ago, 
and  that  the  negroes  believe  that  the  house  is  haunted  by 
the  spirit  of  the  murdered  man.  If  you  know  the  whole 
story,  I  would  like  to  have  you  tell  me  all  the  details." 

"  I  have  heard  my  father  tell  the  story,"  said  Charles, 
"as  he  heard  it  from  his  father,  who  lived  in  the  neighbor- 
hood at  the  time,  and  I  have  also  read  the  account  of  the 
murder  trial  as  it  is  on  record  in  the  law  books.     The 


236  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

murder  was  supposed  to  have  been  committed  by  a 
woman.  The  trial  was  of  the  supposed  murderess." 

*^  Murderess/"  exclaimed  Helen,  and  the  very  word 
seemed  to  fill  her  whole  being  with  horror. 

"Yes,"  said  Charles,  "so  the  story  goes,  but  a  dark  mys- 
tery hangs  over  it,  a  mystery  which  perhaps  will  never 
be  explained." 

"  'Twas  many  years  ago.  It  happened  when  my  father 
was  but  a  child.  It  was  en  Xmas  eve  in  the  year  1815. 
The  family  that  lived  there  was  an  Irish  family  by  the 
name  of  Doyle ;  they  were  possessed  of  considerable  prop- 
erty, in  fact  were  considered  rich  in  those  times ;  William 
Doyle  was  his  name.  It  seems  when  he  grew  up  he  fell 
in  love  with  the  daughter  of  one  of  his  father's  tenants. 
The  girl's  name  was  Emily  Reilly ;  she  was  said  to  be  a 
pure,  modest  girl,  very  refined  in  her  manners  and  pos- 
sessed of  great  beauty.  But  the  Doyle  family  were  bitterly 
opposed  to  the  match,  so  young  Doyle  not  having  any 
means  of  his  own  had  to  wait  and  abide  his  time.  When 
old  man  Doyle  died,  William  then  being  of  age  received  at 
once  his  share  of  his  father's  estate,  and  despite  the  pro- 
testations of  his  brothers  and  sisters,  who  considered  the 
match  a  misalliance,  he  married  the  beautiful  Emily  and 
moved  to  America.  He  bought  that  property  and  built 
that  house,  and  they  say  a  more  elegant  home  or  a  more 
hospitable  mansion  could  not  be  found  in  all  the  States. 
They  had  two  children,  a  girl  and  a  boy,  aged  respectively 
at  that  time  five  and  seven  years.  ]\Ir.  r)o3'le  was  quite 
literary  in  his  taste  and  delighted  to  draw  around  him 
intelligent,  cultivated  people,  while  ]\Irs.  Doyle  was  some- 
thing of  a  religious  enthusiast.  Soon  after  the  Doyle 
family  came,  there  also  came  to  the  neighborhood  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Kelley,  at  least  such  was  the  name  by 
which  he  was  known  here.  He  bought  a  few  acres  of 
land  yonder  over  the  river  and  built  there  a  small  frame 
house.     Who  he  was,  what  he  was,  or  where  he  came 


YANKEE  DOODLE   DIXIE.  237 

from,  no  one  ever  knew,  unless  the  Doyles  knew.  This 
man  Kelley  lived  the  .life  of  a  recluse.  He  was  never 
known  to  have  visited '  anywhere  except  at  the  Doyle 
home,  and  seemed  averse  to  making  even  a  casual 
acquaintance.  He  spent  his  time  for  the  most  part  in 
study  and  the  cultivation  of  flowers.  From  what  source 
he  drew  his  means  of  subsistence  was  a  mystery,  but 
rumor  said  his  small  cottage  was  a  palace  of  luxury,  adorned 
with  the  most  elegant  furniture,  exquisite  tapestry  and 
costly  paintings.  He  was  about  thirty-five  years  of  age, 
a  splendid  figure  and  marvelously  handsome.  The  idea 
got  abroad  that  he  was  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  who  had 
been  mixed  up  in  some  political  intrigue,  and  was  now  an 
exile  or  a  fugitive,  but  from  whence  the  rumor  started  no 
one  could  tell.  His  only  servant  was  a  native  African, 
who  could  not  speak  one  word  of  English  and  whose  gib- 
berish was  totally  unintelligible  to  every  one  except  his 
master.  It  was  well  known  that  the  recluse  was  a  fre- 
quent and  welcome  visitor  at  the  Doyle  home ;  he  came 
and  went  seemingly  with  perfect  freedom.  The  servants 
said  he  seemed  to  be  very  fond  of  Mr.  Doyle,  but  that  he 
was  more  interested  in  Mrs.  Doyle,  and  that  she  was  very 
gracious  towards  him.  These  remarks  of  the  servants, 
told  with  some  expressions  af  disapprobation,  created 
some  whisperings,  but  that  was  all  that  was  ever  known 
of  that.  They  said  he  used  to  read  his  Latin  books  to  Mr. 
Doyle,  but  that  he  talked  on  religious  subjects  to  the  lady. 
But  despite  the  whispers  all  the  servants  agreed  that  it 
seemed  to  be  a  very  happy  home." 

"Just  so  matters  stood  until  that  fatal  Christmas  eve. 
On  that  afternoon  Mr.  Doyle  and  his  wife  gave  Christmas 
presents  not  only  to  the  children,  but  to  each  of  the  ser- 
vants. Mr.  Doyle,  who  was  exceedingly  fond  of  music, 
presented  his  wife  with  a  new  piano ;  and  she,  in  return, 
gave  him  a  new  violin.  After  supper  all  the  servants, 
old  and  young,  were  invited  into  the  house,  and  Mr.  and 


238  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

Mrs.  Doyle  furnished  the  music,  and  the  young  folks  had 
a  grand  dance,  which  was  kept  up  until  quite  a  late  hour, 
none  seeming  to  enjov  the  frolic  more  than  the  white  peo- 
ple." 

"Some  time  just  before  daylight  that  night,  one  wild, 
heart-rending,  piercing  shriek  was  heard,  ringing  through 
the  house  from  dome  to  cellar.  Tlie  servants  in  wild  dismay 
rushed  from  the  cabins,  forced  open  the  doors  and  ran  in. 
One  dim  light  was  burning  in  the  bed-chamber.  Mrs. 
Doyle  stood  in  the  floor,  clothed  only  in  her  night  robes, 
her  left  hand  clasped  in  a  convulsive  grasp  in  her  loosely 
flowing  hair,  her  right  arm  extended,  clutching  at  the  air, 
while  her  eyes  stared  at  the  window  with  the  wild,  fixed 
glare  of  a  demented  soul.  The  room  was  filled  with  a 
strange  odor,  which  soon  passed  away.  On  the  bed  lay 
Mr.  Doyle,  and  near  by,  on  a  cot,  the  two  children — dead. 
Careful  examination  of  the  premises  showed  no  door  or 
window  insecure.  Not  a  thing  in  the  house  was  dis- 
placed— nothing  missing.  Medical  aid  was  summoned, 
which  came  quickl}^,  and  every  effort  to  resuscitate  made. 
But  all  was  fruitless,  except  as  to  the  little  girl.  The 
most  careful  autopsy  by  the  most  skilled  medical  expert 
failed  to  assign  any  definite  cause  of  death,  in  so  far  as  the 
means  employed  were  concerned.  They  had  all  died,  evi- 
dently, without  a  struggle — but,  equally  evidently,  by 
some  designing  hand.  There  was  a  small  clot  of  blood 
in  the  brain  both  of  Mr.  Doyle  and  the  little  boy,  but 
not  the  slightest  outside  wound.  Mrs.  Doyle,  when  rea- 
son returned — if  it  ever  did  fully  return — seemed  fren- 
zied with  grief.  She  wrung  her  hands  and  tore  her  hair 
in  the  agonies  of  her  pitiable  anguish,  but  not  one  tear 
did  she  shed;  and  when  she  finally  became  quiet,  her 
condition  was  such  that  her  physician  prohibited  any 
mention  of  the  subject  to  her;  and  later,  even  when  she 
seemed  to  be  more  herself,  she  either  would  not  or  could 
not  give  any  account  of  what  had  happened  from  the 


YANKEE!   DOODLE   DIXIE.  2lSi 

time  that  she  retired  up  to  the  hour  of  her  restoration  to 
consciousness.  She  was  suspected,  accused,  arrested  and 
placed  on  trial.  She  made  no  effort  towards  a  regular 
legal  defence.  She  seemed  to  take  but  little  notice  of 
what  was  going  on ;  only  protested  against  her  guilt  in 
the  most  emphatic  manner,  and  called  upon  high  heaven 
to  bear  witness  to  her  innocence,  and  invoked  the  wither- 
ing wrath  of  all  the  angels,  if  she  had  ever  been  for  one 
moment  disloyal  to  her  husband  in  thought  or  in  deed. 
'To  be  accused  of  the  murder  of  my  own  husband  and 
child.  My  God!'  she  cried,  and  fell,  writhing  in  the 
dreadful  anguish  of  her  soul." 

"This  was  all  befora  the  trial ;  when  that  came  on  to  be 
heard  she  seemed  to  go  through  the  whole  thing  auto- 
matically. She  had,  or  seemed  to  have,  become  indif- 
ferent. She  did  what  she  was  told  to  do,  but  did  not 
seem  to  hear  a  word  except  when  some  one  would  touch 
her  and  attract  her  attention  to  what  was  being  said.  No 
motive  could  be  suggested ;  none  had  been  assigned  by 
the  counsel  for  the  State.  The  case  was  argued ;  the 
judge  gave  his  charge  to  the  jury.  The  jury  retired  to 
consult,  and  after  an  hour  came  filing  into  the  court- 
room. The  clerk  took  the  indictment  from  the  foreman 
and  read  the  verdict.  It  was  bat  one  word — 'Guilty.' 
At  that  word  Mr.  Kelley  leaped  to  his  feet,  threw  up  his 
arms,  gave  one  shriek — one  piercing  cry — 'She  is  not 
guilty,'  '  she  is  innocent,'  sprang  headlong  as  though  to 
clasp  her  in  his  arms,  fell,  and  was  taken  up  as  for  dead. 
Mrs.  Doyle  neither  heard  that  shriek  nor  saw  that  fall. 
She  arose  to  her  feet,  threw  up  her  veil,  looked  at  the 
judge,  then  at  the  jury,  and  burst  into  one  wild,  hollow 
laugh.  She  was  a  maniac;  she  lingered  a  few  weeks  in 
the  insane  asylum  and  died.  Mr.  Kelley  was  taken  to 
the  hospital,  brain  fever  set  in ;  he  remained  there  for 
some  time,  the  most  of  which  he  was  delirious.  During 
his  stay  at  the  hospital  his  house  was  searched,  but  there 


240  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

was  no  light  thrown  upon  the  mj^sterious  affair.  When 
he  recovered  he  moved  away  and  took  the  little  girl  with 
him.  The  negro  slave  was  taught  to  speak  English,  but 
he  knew  nothing  except  that  his  master  had  left  home 
very  late  that  night,  and  did  not  return  till  near  day- 
light. When  he  left  home  he  took  a  strange-looking 
machine  with  him,  which  he  did  not  bring  back,  and 
which  the  servant  never  saw  again." 

"  The  Doyle  estate,  except  the  house,  was  sold ;  everything 
was  converted  into  mone3^  ^^^'  Kelley,  as  the  best  friend 
of  the  family,  was  appointed  guardian,  and  so  the  matter 
passed  from  the  thoughts  of  the  people.  Years  later,  a 
strange-looking  machine  was  fished  up  from  the  bed  of  the 
river,  which  more  recent  developments  in  electrical  science 
showed  to  be  a  powerful  battery,  and  it  is  now  generally 
supposed  that  this  battery  was  the  instrument  of  death 
in  the  hands  of  Kelley  while  the  victims  were  under  the 
influence  of  chloroform,  the  motive  being  to  lead  ^Irs. 
Doyle  to  believe  they  had  died  a  natural  death,  and  thus 
leave  the  way  clear  to  the  heart  of  the  wife,  and  the  pos- 
session of  the  large  estate.  It  was  said  that  he  moved  to 
Washington  city,  and  finally  married  the  little  girl  for  her 
money ;  but  nothing  has  been  heard  of  him  for  years, 
nor  does  any  one  seem  to  know  what  has  become  of  the 
woman  he  married,  or  is  said  to  have  married.  All  that 
is  known  is,  that  he  either  took  up  his  original  name,  or 
changed  his  name  to  something  else;  at  any  rate,  he  was 
not  known  in  Washington  by  the  name  Kelley.  Why  he 
did  this  no  one  knows." 


CHAPTER  XXi; 

CHARLES  and  Helen  had  dismounted  at  the  time 
Charles  began  to  relate  the  history  of  the  old  haunted 
house,  and  had  seated  themselves  upon  the  rocks  that  lay 
close  to  the  foot  of  the  steep  precipice  near  the  river 
bank.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  terrible  story  Helen  drew 
closer  to  Charles  and  slipped  her  hand  in  his.  She  was 
deeply  affected,  and  shuddered  with  horror. 

"Oh!  how  awful,"  she  said.  "How  can  the  human 
heart  be  so  wicked,  so  sinful,  so  depraved?  I  shall  never 
see  that  old  house  again  without  feelings  of  fear  and 
awe." 

Just  then  a  fearful  peal  of  thunder  broke  over  the  hills 
and  startled  our  friends  by  its  suddenness.  They  had 
not  noticed  that  a  small  but  deep  black  cloud  had  gath- 
ered in  the  west  and  now  came  rushing  on  with  great 
velocity.  They  both  sprang  to  their  feet,  their  first 
thoughts  being  to  mount  and  fly  home  before  the  storm 
should  come  up;  but  a  single  glance  at  the  threatening 
cloud  showed  them  that  it  was  too  late.  The  storm  was 
already  upon  them ;  for  almost  before  they  could  speak 
came  another  crash  of  thunder,  and  this  again  and  again 
was  followed  in  quick  succession.  The  blue  lightnings 
flashed  great  sheets  of  fire,  and  the  thunders  seemed  to  split 
the  very  hills.  Helen  trembled  with  fear  and  excitement, 
but  Charles  assured  her  that  there  was  no  danger.  He 
carried  her  closer  under  the  bluff  to  a  point  where  she 
would  be  perfectly  sheltered  from  any  rain  that  might 
fall,  and  then  took  off  the  saddles  and  placed  them  in  a 
secure  place.  The  horses  were  already  tied  at  a  point 
where  they  would  be  partially  protected  from  the  storm. 
16  (241) 


242  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

Charles  returned  to  Helen's  side  and  they  stood  together 
watching  the  on-coming  storm,  which  seemed  to  increase 
in  violence  as  it  drew  nearer  and  nearer.  The  whole  sky 
wsa  one  blaze  of  dashing  fire,  and  the  peals  of  thunder 
crashed  and  broke  and  echoed  in  deafening  tones.  It 
was  awful,  and  the  bravest  heart  might  have  felt  a  touch 
of  quivering  fear.  Charles  stood  holding  Helen's  hand, 
trying  to  keep  up  her  courage,  but  so  terrible  were  the 
peals  of  thunder  and  so  blinding  the  blaze  of  lightnings 
they  could  scarcely  hear  or  see  each  other.  As  they 
stood  thus  a  clap  of  thunder  more  terrible  than  any 
before  seemed  to  split  the  very  rocks  around  them,  and 
at  the  same  instant  a  flash  of  lightning  completely  blinded 
their  eyes.  Helen  almost  screamed  with  terror,  but  as 
the  sound  died  away  Charles  pointed  to  the  old  haunted 
house,  and  cried: 

"Look,  look!     The  old  house  is  struck  and  is  burning." 

And  as  the  clouds  rolled  away  and  the  thunders  died 
in  the  distance,  Helen  and  Charles  stood  in  breathless 
silence  and  watched  the  fire  as  it  leaped  and  blazed  and 
roared  around  that  ill-fated  house,  which  now  seemed  to 
melt  with  the  intense  heat,  and  to  crumble  in  almost  a 
moment  of  time  to  cinders  and  ashes. 

"What  a  tragical  ending,"  said  Charles  when  at  last  he 
found  words  to  speak.  "What  a  strange,  tragical  end- 
ing." 

"Indeed,  what  a  strange,  tragical  ending,"  replied 
Helen;  "but  I  am  glad  it  is  burned.  The  end  seems 
fitting  for  the  awful  history — God's  decree  against  the 
deeds  done  there.  It  is  gone,  and  in  my  heart  I  am 
glad.  I  could  never  have  seen  that  old  house  again  with- 
out trembling  with  fear.  I  am  in  no  way  superstitiO'US. 
I  do  not  believe  in  ghosts  or  evil,  restless  spirits  that 
cannot  sleep;  but  still  such  tales  and  frightful  stories 
affect  me  strangely  and  make  mo  uncomfortably  nervous. 
And  yet,"  said  she,  smiling,  "somehow  I  enjoy  them  and 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 


243 


love  to  hear  the  negroes  tell  them.  It  is  wonderful  what 
remarkable  stories  they  do  tell,  and  how  fully  they  believe 
in  the  visibility  of  spirits." 

"Yes,"  said  Charles,  "it  is  indeed  wonderful,  but  like 
you  I  enjoy  listening  to  their  recitals.  What  a  pleasure 
it  used  to  be  to  me  when  I  was  a  child.  I  believed  in 
them  then  myself,  and  many  a  night  have  I  stolen  off 
down  to  the  cabins  and  carried  the  cake  I  saved  from  my 
lunch  to  bribe  Uncle  Archer  to  start  the  story.  'Jack 
o'  Lantern,'  'The  Man  Without  Any  Head,'  'The  Spirit 
of  Old  George  Chasing  the  Black  Bog'  were  some  of 
his  favorite  tales  and  happiest  themes.  But  they  will 
never  be  troubled  any  more  by  the  old  haunted  house 
and  the  strange  light  and  music  they  used  to  see  and 
hear  there.  Look.  It  has  burned  completely  down ;  it 
was  so  old  and  dry  the  fire  has  made  quick  work  of  it. 
But  come,  the  storm  has  passed  and  we  had  better  return 
home;  your  father  may  feel  uneasy  about  you." 

When  Helen  and  Charles  reached  home  they  found 
Colonel  Moore  and  Mr.  Dodge  together  in  the  library. 
Charles  related  the  incident  of  the  burning  of  the  old 
haunted  house,  to  which  Mr.  Dodge  listened  with  much 
interest  and  asked  to  whom  did  the  old  house  belong. 
To  this  question  Colonel  Moore  replied: 

"That  seems  to  be  a  mystery.  It  did  belong  to  a  lady 
that  lived  in  Washington,  but  no  one  seems  to  know  what 
has  become  of  her;  yet  it  is  known  that  she  is  still  alive, 
because  some  one  pays  the  taxes  regularly.  The  lady's 
maiden  name  was  Doyle,  but  she  married,  or  is  supposed 
to  have  married,  a  man  wdio  called  himself  Kelley,  though 
it  is  not  believed  that  such  was  his  real  name.  At  any 
rate  he  did  not  go  by  that  name  after  he  was  married." 

The  subject,  for  some  reason  best  known  to  Mr.  Dodge, 
did  not  prove  very  interesting;  so  he  gave  the  conversa- 
tion a  short  turn  by  asking  some  trivial  question  in  regard 
to  Mr.  Reed's  efforts  up  North. 


244 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 


Colonel  Moore  again  introduced  the  subject  of  the 
haunted  house,  and  said  that  several  parties  had  tried  to 
live  there  since  tlie  time  of  the  Doyle  tragedy,  but  each 
party  that  tried  it  soon  became  dissatisfied  on  account  of 
what  they  considered  spiritual  annoyances,  and  so  moved 
away.  It  has  been  many  years  since  any  one  has  entered 
the  house  so  far  as  is  known. 

Again  Mr.  Dodge  interrupted  the  story  and  proceeded 
o  talk  himself  on  the  subject  of  politics.  This  disposi- 
tion on  his  part  could  but  be  noticed  this  time,  and  so 
the  matter  was  never  mentioned  again  in  his  presence. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

FROM  what  lias  been  related,  the  reader  can  well  ima- 
gine that  Mr.  Dodge  was  eminently  successful  in  his 
scheme  to  subject  Colonel  Moore  to  his  influence.  He 
had  certainly  gained  here  just  what  he  desired.  >Ie  was 
now  the  confidential  friend,  and  it  might  almost  be  said 
the  spiritual  adviser,  of  Helen's  father;  certainly  he  was 
the  special  companion  and  most  trusted  counsellor.  He 
had  become  the  oracle  whose  revelations  were  infallible  and 
whose  answers  none  could  gainsay.  Colonel  Moore  had 
come  to  believe  him  possessed  of  supernatural  powers,  and 
supernatural  powers  are  not  to  be  defeated  by  human 
agency.  The  extent  of  this  unfortunate  influence  was 
not  known,  nor  even  yet  suspected  by  either  Charles  or 
Helen,  and  this  fact  was  a  special  source  of  pleasant  con- 
templation and  self-congratulation  to  the  wily  spritual- 
istic  trickster.  No  one  yet  suspected  the  existence  of  this 
new  relation,  nor  dreamed  of  the  extent  of  this  confidential 
association.  It  had  come  to  this :  that  whatever  Dodge 
wished  Colonel  Moore  to  do,  had  only  to  come  in  the  lan- 
guage of  a  message  from  the  departed  wife,  and  lo !  the 
message  became  a  law. 

Colonel  Moore  felt  ashamed  of  his  weakness  and  his 
silly  superstition,  but  he  did  not  confess  even  to  himself 
that  such  were  the  proper  terms,  or  the  correct  description 
of  his  feelings.  He  could  not  tell  Helen,  because  he  knew 
that  she  would  not  believe  in  this  new  revelation ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  that  she  would  distrust  the  accuracy  of 
the  statement,  and  if  she  did  not  actually  question  his 
veracity,  she  would  feel  inclined  to  ridicule  the  idea  of  a 
real  vision,  or  assign  it  all  to  mental  aberration^  and  in 

(245) 


246  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE, 

any  case  to  tell  her  would  only  distress  her.  He  dare  not 
tell  anyone  of  this  new  influence  which  Mr.  Dodge  had 
acquired  for  two  reasons — the  first  because  Mr.  Dodge  had 
expressly  prohibited  it,  upon  the  ground  that  the  spirits 
were  jealous  of  their  affairs  and  brooked  no  meddling; 
the  second  was,  that  Colonel  Moore  felt  that  he  could  not 
let  it  become  known  that  he  had  given  the  place,  which 
of  right  belonged  to  his  own  child,  to  a  stranger.  So 
deep  in  his  breast  he  buried  the  secret,  and  chafed  and 
grew  restless  and  unhappy  because  of  the  conflict  between 
love  and  duty,  pride  and  weakness. 

Mr.  Dodge,  seemingly  the  most  unselfish  man  in  all  the 
world,  did  not  fail  to  profit  by  this  new  found  influence, 
and  to  use  it  to  forward,  as  far  as  it  could,  the  one  great 
aim  of  his  life.  The  game  he  was  playing  was  so  deep; 
the  web  he  was  weaving  so  subtle;  the  hope  he  was  cher- 
ishing so  artful,  and  the  plans  he  was  pursuing  so  skillful, 
no  shadow  of  suspicion  had  ever  even  for  one  single 
moment  darkened  the  confidence  or  shaded  the  friendly 
relations  of  any  of  the  victims,  or  of  those  he  made  instru- 
ments in  his  fiendish  designs. 

One  eye,  and  one  eye  only,  had  pierced  that  armor  and 
penetrated  the  casement  and  seen  the  black  waters  of 
deceit  that  surged  through  that  wicked  soul.  Old  Ben 
had  seen,  and  still  saw,  the  foul  cesspool  of  filthy  water 
that  had  collected  in  that  base,  black  heart,  and  poured  a 
stream  of  enmity  and  hate  deep  and  dark.  But  even 
Uncle  Ben  could  not  see  the  motive,  nor  name  the  object 
of  that  sinister  design;  and  so  he  was  powerless  to  ward 
off  a  blow  which  he  knew  was  aimed  at  some  friend  he 
loved. 

That  old  negro,  so  loyal  in  his  heart,  so  true  and  stead- 
fast in  his  affections,  was  sorely  "worried.  He  loved  his 
old  master ;  he  fairly  worshiped  ^liss  Helen,  and  for  his 
friend  Charles  Reed  he  felt  a  feeling  of  deep  pride  and 
reverence,  and  the  thought  that  this  stranger  had  come 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  247 

here  with  evil  in  his  heart  to  work  them  harm  was  to  him 
more  than  distressing. 

He  naturally  concluded  that  money  was  the  main 
object,  and  in  this  consoled  himself  to  some  extent  by  his 
high  appreciation  of  the  good  sense  of  his  old  master, 
and  so  he  still  resolved  to  watch  and  wait.  And  be  did 
wait  and  be  did  watch;  but  be  did  not  forget  that  be  was 
a  servant,  and  that  Mr.  Dodge  was  a  guest  at  the  Grove, 
and  as  such  entitled  to  respect.  The  old  man  was  cour- 
teous, attentive,  and  polite,  almost  obsequiously  so  in 
appearance;  but  this  did  not  deceive  Mr.  Dodge.  He 
felt  that  bis  heart  M'as  exposed  to  the  gaze  of  that  old 
man,  and  that  bis  dark  thoughts  were  read  like  an  open 
book.  The  steady,  contemplative  gaze  of  those  mild 
black  eyes  could  pierce  like  a  quiver  of  arrows,  and  at 
times  stung  Mr.  Dodge  to  the  very  soul.  He  felt  cowed, 
humiliated,  debased;  be  felt  mastered,  and  be  fairly 
writhed  in  bis  anger  and  bis  agony,  chafmg  like  a  serpent 
thrown  upon  hot,  scorching  embers.  And  in  the  bitter- 
ness of  bis  heart  be  could  have  crushed  that  one  enemy 
of  bis  life  as  be  would  have  crushed  a  slimy  worm  that 
had  stung  bini  to  the  quick.  He  clinched  his  fist  and 
ground  bis  teeth,  and  quoted  as  to  himself,  "  The  eagle 
towering  in  bis  pride  of  place  is  by  the  mousing  owlet 
hawked  at  and  killed."  "  I'll  steep  my  soul  for  an  age  in 
a  lake  of  liquid  fire  could  I  but  live  to  hold  him  to  the 
grinding  wheel  of  torture."  "  I  hate  Charles  Reed,  but  I 
loathe  this  obsequious  serpent.  'Tis  his  cursed  look  that 
unmans  me  and  balks  me  in  my  purpose.  'Tis  he  that 
unstrings  my  nerves  and  withers  my  pride.  Woe  unto 
him  if  the  devil  do  but  prosper  my  hopes  and  he  fall, 
under  my  power." 

"What  have  I  yet  accomplished?  Notmng — or  as 
good  as  nothing.  Y/bat  but  to  make  a  fool  of  that  sim- 
ple old  soul,  Beverly  Moore.  Spiritualism!  Bah  I  What 
nonsense.    No  spirit  ever  came  from  the  grave,  unless 


248  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

the  devil  was  the  medium — and  the  devil  never  serves 
without  pay.  Yet  the  would-be  good — ye  goody-good- 
will employ  him,  so  I  must  smother  my  pride  and  con- 
tinue the  devil's  partner.  He  helped  me  in  that  late  will- 
making  business,  and  he  may  yet,  despite  old  Ben,  help 
me  to  the  hand  of  the  faiTinadmorata  and  to  the  rights  of 
vengeance.  She  is  yonder  in  the  garden  among  her  dead 
flowers.  I  will  go  and  talk  to  her  of  other  bright  things 
that,  like  her  flowers,  must  soon  die." 

Mr.  Dodge  had  taken  advantage  of  his  growing  inti- 
macy with  Colonel  Moore  to  spend  much  of  his  time  at 
the  Grove;  and  as  Mr.  Reed  was  absent  and  all  home 
duties  were  left  to  Charles,  Mr.  Dodge  found  ample  time 
and  opportunity  to  cultivate  the  society  of  the  beauteous 
Helen  Moore.  He  had  done  all  he  could  to  ingratiate 
himself  into  her  good  favor.  He  had  tried  to  engage 
her  attention  and  captivate  her  fancy  by  his  brilliant 
wit  and  conversation,  and  he  had  paid  her  the  most 
delicate  comi^liments  and  sought  to  please  her  taste  in 
every  way  that  hope  and  skill  and  thought  could  sug- 
gest ;  but  when  the  day  was  done,  he  found  himself  just 
where  the  shades  of  the  previous  night  had  left  him. 

Charles  had  never  said  to  him  in  express  words  that 
there  was  an  engagement  between  him  and  Helen,  for 
the  love  which  Charles  felt  in  his  heart  for  her  was  so 
true,  sincere,  warm  and  tender — she  was  something  sacred 
in  his  eyes,  too  sacred  to  be  talked  about ;  yet  Dodge 
knew  that  there  was  an  engagement;  but  he  tried  to  act 
as  though  he  did  not  know.  Helen  made  no  confession; 
still  she  acted  as  though  she  thought  he  fully  understood. 
He  tried  on  several  occasions,  by  inuendoes,to  draw  from 
her  some  expression,  so  as  to  give  him  an  opportunity 
for  comment;  but  woman's  skill  is  ever  more  than  a 
match  for  man's  duplicity — and  so  Mr.  Dodge  found  it. 

Helen  enjoyed  his  brilliant  conversations.  She  was 
entertained  by  his  descriptions  of  persons  and  places  and 


YANKEE    JDOODLE    DIXIE.  249 

scenes  and  incidents.  She  was  interested  in  the  unfold- 
ing of  his  vast  portfolio  of  knowledge,  and  she  conceded 
the  fact  that  he  was  gentlemanly  and  engaging  in  his 
manners ;  but  her  heart,  truly  loyal  to  one  love,  never 
for  one  moment  flattered  amidst  the  skillful  besieging. 
Had  she  suspected  his  design,  his  visits  to  the  Grove 
would  have  come  to  an  end,  and  that  without  ceremony. 
She  looked  upon  him  as  Charles's  friend,  and  as  the  friend 
of  Charles  she  received  him  and  entertained  him.  She 
attributed  his  visits  to  the  Grove  to  his  love  of  company, 
and  his  delicate  attentions  to  her  to  a  refined  nature  and 
a  due  appreciation  of  the  refining  influence  of  ladies' 
society. 

He  had  said  to  himself  a  thousand  times,  "The  way  to 
win  a  woman's  heart  is  to  besiege  it  boldly,  and  fear  no 
rivals.  Demand  it  as  a  thing  to  be  taken  and  pos- 
sessed." But  despite  his  bold  theory,  he  found  himself 
unable  to  make  a  single  advance. 

There  was  that  about  Helen  Moore  which  placed  her 
immeasurably  beyond  his  reach.  He  coald  no  more 
have  touched  her  hand,  after  the  manner  of  a  sly  caress, 
than  he  could  have  reached  the  glittering  stars ;  he  could 
no  more  have  spoken  bold  words  of  love  to  her,  in  the 
language  of  hope,  than  he  could  have  taken  the  plunge 
of  Niagara.  Her  very  purity  was  her  safeguard.  She 
breathed  an  atmosphere  that  contamination  could  not 
enter,  and  which  sin  and  corruption  could  not  so  much 
as  approach.  She  was  a  lady  in  the  full  acceptation  of 
the  term,  and  Mr.  Dodge  saw  it,  felt  it,  and  acknowledged 
its  potent  influence.  He  did  not  dare  to  intrude  within 
the  sacred  circle  which  surrounded  her;  he  dared  not  pol- 
lute her  hand  with  his  impious  touch,  or  befoul  the 
atmosphere  which  she  breathed  with  an  expression  of 
unholy  love.  He  felt  that  any  expression  of  sentiment 
from  him  would  be  an  insult  to  her  purity  of  cha- 
racter. 


250  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

Man  knows  the  difference  between  a  mere  woman,  so 
called,  and  a  lady,  and  he  feels  it  the  moment  he  enters 
the  presence  of  the  latter. 

The  "woman"  publishes  herself  to  the  world  in  a 
thousand  ways,  and  man  is  educated  to  read  them  all. 
The  switch  of  a  skirt,  the  flutter  of  a  fan,  a  glance  of  the 
eye,  the  pose  of  the  head,  the  tone  of  the  voice,  the 
expressive  smile,  the  affected  conversation,  the  mock 
modesty  and  the  general  dress  parade,  alas!  all  but  too 
often  say  to  the  enterprising  man,  "I  am  out  for  a  good 
time;  let  me  see  if  you  will  dare."  And  man  is  generally 
brave.  He  loves  the  excitement  of  adventure^  and  don't 
care  if  he  dares.  The  dust  of  the  trail  does  not  stick  to 
his  skirts.  'Tis  the  white  skin  of  the  should-be  immacu- 
late woman  that  shows  the  foul  spot.  The  compromise 
of  a  handkerchief  flirtation;  the  polluting  touch  of  a 
street-car  acquaintance;  a  so-called  innocent  parlor  past- 
time  ;  a  dark-cornered  caress,  never  was,  and  never  will 
be,  in  accord  with  chaste  thoughts  and  modesty  of  man- 
ners. Of  all  the  adorning  characteristics  of  woman,  perfect 
chastity  of  thought  and  pure  modesty  are  the  most  to  be' 
desired  and  admired.  They  are  the  crowning  jewels  ini 
the  coronet  of  womanly  virtue — the  chief  glory  of, 
woman's  charms.  The  lady  who  loves  her  virtue  and. 
her  good  name  as  she  loves  the  affectionate  caresses  of  a 
Christian  mother,  never  advertises  for  a  ''dare."  The 
lady  who  loves  purity  with  a  love  she  would  be  willing 
for  the  angels  to  scan,  never  publishes  her  charms  to  be 
read  in  dark  corners,  nor  unfurls  the  banner  of  her 
morality  to  flutter  in  a  handkerchief  flirtation.  Man 
looks  upon  a  lady  with  the  deepest  admiration  of  his 
heart.  She  is  his  acknowledged  superior  in  every  enno- 
bling virtue.  She  elevates  his  character,  refines  his 
nature,  purifies  his  life  and  lifts  him  above  his  own  grov- 
elling desires  and  debasing  appetites.  In  the  purifyinjif 
influence  of  her  society  his  moral  character  is  moulded, 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  251 

and  in  the  sweet  contemplation  of  her  exalted  life  he  is 
inspired  with  hope  and  filled  with  that  light  and  love 
which  is  to  bear  him  onward  and  upward  to  the  realms 
of  eternal  joy.  Such  a  being  he  woos  as  the  evenhig 
zephyr  woos  tlie  violet-  -almost  afraid  to  breathe  the  sigh 
of  love,  lest  the  breath  of  hope  pollute  a  thing  so  pure. 
His  touch  upon  her  hand  is  as  gentle  and  as  light  as  the 
dowdrop  that  stoops  to  kiss  the  blushing  rose,  lest  by  con- 
tact with  his  rude  life  he  should  defile  a  being  so  lovely  and 
so  fair.  To  a  lady  (noble,  gentle  and  pure),  man — base 
man,  rude  of  speech  and  rough  of  nature — all  honor  and 
all  praise  will  give,  and  due  homage  and  respect  will 
show.  But  you  "  woman  " — you  who  stoop  to  practice  your 
bewitching  wiles  and  spread  your  sails  to  run  before  the 
wind  in  the  swift  race  for  the  dark  corner — you  may  get 
the  attention  you  seek  and  win  the  flattery  you  enjoy; 
but  you  lose  the  love  and  respect  of  even  those  you  seek 
to  beguile.  Oh  I  you  "  woman  "  of  the  handkerchief  flirta- 
tion ;  you  of  the  street-car  coquetry ;  you  of  the  "  low- 
dress  expose  " ;  you  of  the  advertising  class  and  the  full- 
dress  parade;  and  you  of  the  cheap  publishing  com- 
pany, who  hang  your  signs  in  the  window  and  scatter 
your  bills  at  the  ball ;  who  giggle  and  squint,  and  flutter 
and  flounce  and  flirt,  and  give  the  dare  to  the  devil — you 
in  due  time  will  find  your  reward.  You  may  win  the 
game  at  which  you  play,  but  the  love  of  no  good  man 
will  be  found  among  j^our  prizes.  The  race  you  would 
run  is  from  maidenhood  to  matrimony.  You  may  win 
the  race  and  seize  a  voluptuary  for  a  husband ;  but 
remember,  passion  generally  dies  with  the  gratification 
and  happiness  is  buried  in  the  grave  of  sensuality,  and 
hopes  are  crushed  and  torture  springs  up  beneath  the 
galling  links  of  chains  that  cannot  be  broken,  and  souls 
writhing  under  the  torture  of  disappointment  lose  sight 
of  the  last  ray  of  hope,  forget  virtue,  embrace  shame, 
and  take  the  awful  plunge  from  the  ramparts  of  fair 
fame  down  into  the  deep,  dark  pits  of  despair. 


252  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

Helen  Moore  was  a  lady — a  country  lady  after  the 
manner  of  the  old  Virginia  school,  one  of  those  whom 
God  made  and  man  could  not  spoil.  In  the  fast  fashions 
of  city  life  she  was  deeply  ignorant.  Her  education  in 
such  things  had  been  most  sadly  neglected.  She  had 
not  been  taught  to  light  with  her  sweet  lips  the  paper 
cigarettes  of  her  evening  callers.  Nor  could  she,  with  the 
appropriate  wink,  quote  the  latest  and  most  popular  slang. 
She  was  as  unskilled  in  the  art  of  "  making  a  mash"  as 
she  would  have  been  in  commanding  a  cohort  of  lounging 
young  lovers.  Such  elegancies  were  above  the  circle  of 
her  simple  sphere,  and  such  refinements  her  modest  talent 
dare  not  aspire  to  cultivate.  Mr,  Dodge  was  just  from 
the  city — the  fashionable  city  of  Washington  —  the 
Nation's  Capital.  No  doubt  he  had  seen  there  many  of 
the  modest  young  ladies  who  can  hide  their  blushes 
behind  their  lace  fans,  and  only  venture  to  peep  with  one 
eye  as  they  reply  to  some  scholastic  remark  of  ye  Dandy 
young  Dude,  and  say,  "  you  bet,"  "  you  are  another," 
"  Now  just  go  there  yourself,"  or  who  can  clap  their  lily- 
white  hands  in  a  burst  of  ecstatic  joy  and  exclaim,  "  Oh! 
I  have  made  a  mash  on  that  fellow  with  the  dark  blue 
eyes."     "Indeed."     "I  should  smile." 

But  Helen  was  not  up  to  the  times.  She  knew  some- 
thing of  music  and  painting;  could  render  Virgil  and 
Sallust  and  Horace ;  had  read  ^Macaulay  and  Bacon  and 
Scott  and  Moore  and  Milton  and  Shakespeare;  could 
speak  French,  and  might  travel  through  Germany  with- 
out a  guide,  but  what  were  these  poor  accomplishments 
to  compare  with  the  skill  and  tact  and  judgment  required 
to  make  a  genuine  mash;  and  how  vain  and  useless  were 
her  simple  acquirements  in  paving  the  way  and  opening 
up  the  avenues  which  lead  to  the  citadel  of  courtship  and 
advantageous  matrimony. 

How  easy  Mr.  Dodge  would  have  found  it,  to  have 
launched  his  bark  on  the  high  seas  of  a  declaration,  if  in 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  253 

reply  to  one  of  his  delicately  turned  compliments,  Helen 
had  only  replied,  "You  bet  your  dear  life,"  or  "Now  I 
should  smile." 

The  seven  labors  of  Hercules  won  for  him  immortal 
fame  and  imperishable  renown,  and  I  would  not  detract 
one  jot  or  tittle  from  his  glory,  but  the  experience  of  every 
true  lover  will  bear  mo  out  in  the  statement  that  the 
hardest  task  that  mortal  man  ever  called  upon  himself  to 
discharge  is  to  declare  his  love  when  his  gentle  lady 
leaves  him  upon  the  deep,  deep  sea  of  uncertainty.  Vir- 
ginius  Dabney,  who  said  quite  a  number  of  good  things 
in  his  "Don  Miff"  but  also  indulged  in  a  full  proportion  of 
flippant  affectations,  makes  by  far  the  best  character  in 
his  book  say:  "The  sweetest  music  in  the  world  to  a 
woman's  ear  is  the  voice  of  a  man  telling  her  that  he 
loves  her ;  and  that  it  is  music  of  so  potent  a  character  it 
often  melts  a  heart  that  was  cold  before."  That  assertion 
needs  a  qualification,  which  its  author  did  not  make,  and 
without  which  it  is  a  libel  upon  every  high-minded,  pure 
woman.  The  voice  of  love  is  indeed  sweet,  when  it  comes 
from  the  heart,  and  finds  an  echo  in  the  soul  of  the  one 
beloved,  but  that  woman  who  finds  sweet  music  in  words 
of  love,  when  she  has  no  love  to  give  back  in  return,  has 
fallen  from  the  high  pedestal  of  true  virtue  and  is  foun- 
dering in  the  unclean  waters  of  sensuality. 

Man  acts  upon  the  theory  that  no  woman  has  the  right 
to  suspect  that  she  is  loved  until  he  tells  her.  so  in  express 
terms.  He  arrogates  to  himself  the  exclusive  privilege 
of  speaking  out  on  that  all-important  subject;  he  claims 
the  right  to  show  his  regard  in  ten  thousand  different 
ways.  Every  delicate  attention,  which  can  be  paid,  he 
pays ;  he  is  lavish  in  his  efforts  to  please ;  untiring  in  his 
endeavors  to  win  approbation  and  show  himself  worthy. 
And  yet  he  thinks  it  the  height  of  presumption  if  the 
object  of  his  studious  attentions  is  even  so  much  as  sus- 
pected until  heshall  condescend  in  due  form  to  speak  of  love 


254  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

and  matrimon3\  Such  conduct  man  calls  fair,  and  fair 
woman  would  do  well  not  to  forget  that  it  is  man's  unrea- 
sonable theory.  This  warning  is  given  not  because  she 
has  no  right  to  place  a  natural  interpretation  upon  man's 
conduct,  but  because  he  is  so  false  at  heart,  so  fickle,  so 
selfish  and  so  ■unreliable  in  matters  of  love  and  courtship, 
that  it  is  often  hard  to  tell  the  pure  gold  from  {he  flattery 
and  dross  of  flirtation.  It  does  seem  that  his  oaths,  much 
less  his  acts,  do  not  always  bind  his  conscience,  and  he 
feels  free  to  discontinue  his  addresses  at  any  moment  he 
sees  fit,  without  explanation  and  without  warning.  There 
are  some  honorable  exceptions  ;  may  they  find  their 
reward. 

Love  that  rests  upon  words  alone  for  proof  does  not 
deserve  the  name.  The  heart  is  best  mirrored  in  deeds, 
and  acts  are  confirmation ;  for  what  we  love  we  serve, 
and  the  extent  of  the  service  is  the  true  test  of  the  depth 
and  sincerity  of  the  aff'ections. 

There  is  no  selfishness  in  that  love,  which  centers  in 
the  soul,  which  fills  the  whole  heart  and  thrills  in  the 
breast.  Give  such  love,  and  such  love  receive,  and  the 
earth  becomes  a  paradise.  You  may  dwell  in  a  hovel  but 
it  will  be  filled  with  a  light  that  is  brighter  than  the 
brightest  day.  Gold  cannot  purchase  the  peace  which 
love  can  bring ;  silver  cannot  secure  the  joy  which  love 
affords,  and  the  flashing  diamond  pales  in  impotent  rivalry 
with  the  bright  light  of  mutual  trust  and  deep  earnest 
aff'ection.  Love  is  the  foundation  of  man's  redemption 
from  his  own  wayward  nature ;  with  it  shining  clear  and 
bright  and  beautiful  in  his  heart,  he  is  lifted  above  his 
selfish  aims  and  debasing  appetites ;  b}'  it  he  is  regener- 
ated and  brought  forth  from  the  dark  womb  of  sensuality 
and  elevated  into  the  clear,  pure  atmosphere  of  marital 
virtue.  Without  it  man  sinks  below  the  level  of  the 
brutes ,  becomes  the  victim  of  every  base  desire ;  the 
slave  of  selfishness  and  the  dupe  of  his  own  lust.     Love 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  255 

or  the  hope  of  love  is  his  only  safeguard,  his  only  pro- 
tection, his  only  shield  in  the  hour  of  temptation  and  the 
only  beacon  light  by  which  his  frail  bark  can  navigate 
the  sea  of  time  and  gain  the  shores  of  peaceful  enjoyment. 
Love  is  God's  gift  to  man  in  matchless  mercy  given ;  the 
sweetest  boon  that  heaven  has  bestowed  or  earth  received. 
Oh!  what  would  man  be  without  love? 

William  Dodge  did  not  love  Helen  ^loore.  He  was 
incapable  of  that  divine  emotion.  In  the  dark  recesses  of 
his  heart  lust  and  pride  and  depravity,  sin  and  selfishness 
held  united  sway,  and  his  soul  was  too  beclouded  by  the 
smoky  fogs  of  low  selfish  designs  even  for  one  ray  of  the 
bright  light  of  pure,  undimmed  affection  to  penetrate  the 
gloom.  Had  he  loved,  base  as  he  was,  he  would  have 
been  transformed  into  a  new  being.  The  shackles  of  sel- 
fishness would  have  fallen  from  his  limbs  and  the  clouds 
rolled  away,  even  as  the  mists  of  the  morning  before  the 
rising  sun.  He  would  have  come  forth  strong  in  his 
determination  to  be  what  every  woman's  love  desires  man 
to  be — true  and  manly,  and  noble  and  generous,  and  just 
and  brave  and  good.  No  man  ever  loved  at  the  moment 
that  he  stooped  to  do  a  mean  act,  for  if  he  did,  love's 
pleading  prayer  would  save  him.  William  Dodge  in 
every  act  of  his  life  was  moved  by  one  impulse — self- 
gratification,  and  that,  regardless  of  the  rights  of  others. 
To  gratify  his  thirst  for  revenge  on  Charles  Reed,  he  had 
come  to  see  Helen  Moore,  and  to  forward  that  revenge  he 
would  appropriate  her  to  his  own  purpose,  though  he 
knew  if  he  Succeeded  her  happiness  would  be  wrecked. 
He  had  seen  that  she  was  fair  to  look  upon  and  was  the 
only  heir  to  a  large  fortune,  and  these  were  considerations 
sufficient  to  justify  him  in  what  little  sacrifice  he  consid- 
ered that  he  would  be  making  in  binding  himself  in  law 
to  the  petty  caprices  of  a  woman. 

He  had  won  favor  in  the  eyes  of  her  father.  He  had 
duped  that  father  to  put  his  name  in  the  newly-made 


256  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

will  in  a  way  T-uvt  could  be  useful  when  the  father  was 
dead.  And  now  he  was  bending  his  best  endeavors  to 
seek  an  avenue  to  Helen's  heart;  for  although  he  did  not 
believe  in  love  himself — in  the  "  sickly  sentimentality  of 
a  diseased  soul,"  as  he  termed  it — yet  he  was  illogical 
enough  to  admit  that  he  would  be  obliged  to  inspire  her 
with  some  tender  feeling  before  he  could  make  her  break 
the  cord  that  bound  her  to  Charles.  But  his  very  audacity 
was  checked  by  her  purity,  and  that  fear  which  is  born 
of  a  guilty  conscience  made  him  a  coward.  He  had 
begun  to  chafe  with  disappointment  and  to  grow  des- 
perate in  his  dark  designs.  Thoughts  of  more  effective 
means — more  speedy  remedies,  had  been  suggested  to  his 
mind.  The  soliloquy  of  Hamlet  kept  running  in  his 
mind,  paraphrased  to  suit  his  own  vile  purpose :  "  Is  it 
nobler  in  the  mind  to  suffer  the  slings  and  arrows  of 
outrageous  fortune,  or  take  arms  against  a  sea  of  troubles, 
and  by  opposing,  end  them?"  "Yes,"  he  said  "I'll  end 
them — I'll  take  up  arms;  I'll  make  a  finish  of  that  which 
balks  me." 

And  so,  little  by  little,  he  cleared  the  path  of  all  doubt 
and  uncertainty,  and  found  his  mind  contentedly  con- 
templating a  darker  deed.  'Tis  said  that  he  who  walks 
along  the  slippery  edge  of  a  deep,  yawning  chasm  and 
stops  to  calculate  the  chances  of  danger  is  surely  lost, 
and  he  who  pauses  in  the  way  of  life  to  listen  to  the  soft, 
flattering  voice  of  temptation  will  fall  a  sure  victim. 

In  a  few  weeks  more,  Charles  Reed,  his  hated  rival, 
would  lead  Helen  Moore  to  the  altar  and  th^re  make  her 
his  wife.  This  he  could  read  in  the  signs  he  saw  around 
him,  but  just  when  he  did  not  know. 

"  He  may  get  her,  but  he  shall  not  keep  her  long— ^ 
where  there  is  a  will  there  is  a  way.  Dark  and  desperate 
and  bloody  and  dangerous  it  may  be,  still  it  is  a  way; 
and  that  it  seems  the  only  way  is  no  fault  of  mine.  Some 
other  path  might  be  more  pleasant,  but  these  have  I  not 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  257 

tried,  and  pray  where  have  they  led  me?  Only  into  the 
labyrinth  of  folly  and  self-abasement. 

"  She  would  despise  and  loath  me  as  a  slimy  serpent,  if 
she  knew  my  thoughts.  Shall  I  allow  that? — never.  I 
shall  despise  myself,  if  I  fail.  Can  I  allow  that? — never, 
never.  She  would  scorn  and  spurn  me  like  a  hated  toad. 
Shall  I  allow  that  ? — never,  never,  never.  I  should  scorn 
myself  and  writhe  like  a  burning  worm,  if  I  live  in  cow- 
ardly inactivity  and  forego  this  high  emprise.  Can  I 
endure  that? — never,  never,  never,  never.  To  loathe, 
despise  and  scorn  myself  would  be  a  living  death,  a  thou- 
sand times  worse  than  the  momentary  pangs  of  simple 
dissolution.  Then  it  must  be  death — my  death  or  his 
death.  Why  my  death?  Who  does  not  know  that  self- 
preservation  is  the  first  law  of  nature,  and  so,  so,  the 
argument  is  conclusive.     But  the  means,  the  means,  the 

means — th 'Hello!  Charles,  you  have  caught  me  in 

a  profound  re  very.  I  was  just  debating  the  question. 
Is  Bacon  the  author  of  Shakespeare's  writings?  What 
say  you?  Did  Shakespeare  thrive  when  Bacon  wrote,  or 
did  Bacon  shake  when  Shakespeare  shook,  or  did  Shake- 
speare thrive  when  Bacon  digested? '"  At  which  Charles 
laughed  and  said :  "  Now  come.  Dodge,  don't  shake  two 
Bacons  on  the  same  Spear,  else  you  will  become  famous 
in  the  Baconian  school  as  the  Englishman  did  in  Ameri- 
can history,  when  he  attempted  to  criticise  Mr.  Webster, 
our  greatest  statesman.     You  have  heard  the  story." 

"No,  I  have  not.  Let  us  have  it  by  all  means."  "Well, 
it  only  illustrates  your  mixing  Bacon  the  Philosopher, 
with  Bacon  the  author  of  the  Digest,  and  further  illus- 
trates the  Englishman's  profound  contempt  for  American 
ability." 

"Well,  go  on  with  the  story,  I  stand  corrected  on  the  author 

of  the  Digest,  but  really  Bacon  wrote  so  much  and  wrote 

eo  well  I  must  insist  that  my  blunder  is  natural:  but  the 

story,  the  story,  let  us  have  the  story ;  especially  as  it  hits 

17 


55S  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

me,  as  well  as  the  Englishman.  I  am  Irish  enough  to 
enjoy  at  all  times  a  good  hit  on  Mr.  John  Bull,  and  for 
myself  I  am  not  sensitive." 

"Then  to  begin,  you  know  of  course  that  every 
Englishman  spells  England  with  a  'big,  big'  E,  and 
America  with  a  'little,  little' a.  And  Mr.  Webster 
having  had  the  bad  luck  to  have  been  born  in  the 
United  States,  the  Englishman  spells  his  name  with 
a  little  w,  and  writes  his  history  short  accordingly.  He 
pooh-poohs  the  idea  that  Webster  was  anything  but  small 
potatoes  at  his  best,  and  by  way  of  argument  said  that 
everybody  knows  the  full  story  of  the  farcical  claim  to 
statesmanship.  For  he  says,  *  that  Webster  pretended  to 
be  a  leading  politician,  but  failed  at  that — took  to  litera- 
ture and  wrote  a  dictionary — failed  at  that — set  up  for  a 
business  man  and  college  professor,  failed  at  that,  got  into 
debt,  killed  his  creditor,  Dr.  Parkman,  and  finally  got 
hung  for  murder.' " 

Charles  of  course  had  expected  to  hear  Mr.  Dodge 
laugh  at  this  regular  John  Bull  of  a  blunder,  but  in 
stead  he  was  much  surprised  to  see  Mr.  Dodge  turn  pale 
as  death,  and  to  note  the  expression  of  his  face  indicat- 
ing extreme  terror  and  fright. 

"Hung I"  cried  Mr.  Dodge,  ''hung  for  murder,"  and  he 
clasped  his  hands  to  his  neck  and  sank  down  in  a  chair 
pale  with  horror  and  trembling  in  every  limb,  while  his 
eyes  glared  wide  with  a  vacant  stare. 

"  Yes — murder,"  cried  Charles,  and  he  jumped  at  Dodge 
and  shook  him  by  the  shoulder.  "What  is  the  matter 
with  you,  man?  If  you  don't  laugh  at  my  joke  I  will 
chunk  that  chuckle  head  of  yours ;  none  of  your  theatri- 
cals around  me  now  ;  laugh  I  say,  laugh  or  I'll  murder 
you." 

^Ir.  Dodge  instantly  recovered  his  self-possession  and 
did  laugh  heartily  at  the  hard  hit  on  the  pretentious 
English,  but  it  was  a  laugh  not  greatly  enjoyed.     The 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  259 

story  was  too  suggestive  of  the  black  thought  which  filled 
Dodge's  mind  just  at  the  moment  when  Charles  came 
upon  him  in  his  so-called  profound  revery. 

However,  Mr.  Dodge,  in  his  fortunate  power  of  self- 
possession,  assumed  an  air  acknowledging  the  compliment 
paid  his  theatrical  performance,  and  said : 

"You  don't  like  the  English  very  much  then,  friend 
Charles?" 

"  Oh  I  yes,  I  do.  They  are  a  grand  people ;  they  take 
the  lead  in  many  things  over  all  the  world.  A  sensible 
Englishman  is  the  peer  of  any  man,  no  matter  what  be 
his  birth-place,  nor  where  he  makes  his  home.  But  I 
must  say  some  Englishmen  can  make  themselves  the  big- 
gest fools  that  the  world  has  ever  supplied.  He  is  in  this 
as  he  is  in  most  other  things — a  success  when  he  tries. 
But  on  general  principles,  I  confess  I  like  an  Englishman 
to  stay  in  England.  I  don't  like  him  very  much  over  in 
Ireland,  and  I  believe  I  like  him  three  hundred  and  sixty 
degrees  less  when  he  comes  over  to  America.  It  does  seem 
that  one  of  two  things  is  impossible — either  very  few  sen- 
sible Englishmen  come  to  America,  or  they  forget  their 
good  sense  when  they  start  (for  they  will  put  on  airs  when 
they  get  here).  Even  Charles  Dickens  had  to  go  and 
make  himself  an  ass  when  he  came  over  tlris  side  the 
water;  for,  in  the  characteristic  conceit  of  an  Englishman, 
the  only  things  he  saw,  if  we  may  judge  by  what  he  wrote 
upon  his  return,  were  such  as  to  excite  his  risibility. 

"  The  average  Englishman  on  this  side  of  the  blue 
Atlantic  is  a  failure.  He  never  becomes  an  America- 
loving  citizen — a  good,  true,  liberty-loving  republican-^ 
an  advocate  of  free  thought,  free  speech,  and  constitu- 
tional government.  Once  an  Englishman  is  always  an 
Englishman,  and  he  delights  to  show  it  in  every  way  he 
can — in  the  tone  of  his  voice,  the  swing  of  his  walk,  the 
part  of  his  hair,  and  the  color  of  his  pants.  Let  him  be 
"what  he  may  in  merry  old  England,  when  he  gets  to 


2b0  YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE. 

America  he  is  a  sweli-head.  The  democratic-republican 
atmosphere  of  our  free  institutions  does  not  seem  to  agree 
with  his  idiosj^ncratic  pride  of  British  nationality,  and  he 
no  sooner  lands  than  you  see  symptoms  of  inflammatory 
self-conceit  and  detect  the  first  stages  of  that  ignominious 
complaint  known  as  cerebro-clephantls,  hetierknov^'u.  out- 
side of  medical  books  as  'The  big-head.' 

"Usually  they  are  lords  when  they  land;  grandees 
while  they  stay;  and  most  generally,  always,  sometimes 
somebody's  debtor  w^hen  they  disappear.  About  the  only 
thing  they  ever  leave  behind  them  when  they  go  is  their 
manners,  which  some  of  our  American  sons  of  the  sappy- 
headed,  sophomorical  school  borrow  and  neglect  to  return. 

"  What  a  swell,  one  of  these  parvenu  fellows  that  says: 
*  You  bet,  dad  is  done  struck  lie,'  can  cut,  when  he  gets 
on  his  British  manners  and  English  rigging.  In  his  own 
estimation,  then,  he  is  a  count,  but  in  the  estimation  of 
his  neighbors  he  counts  for  a  fool. 

"There  was  one  at  the  White  Sulphur  Springs  last 
season,  and  the  fun  he  afforded  me  in  some  measure  con- 
ciliated my  contempt  for  his  excessive  vanity.  He  had 
cheek  enough  for  two  rows  of  teeth,  and  he  was  suffi- 
ciently an  ass  to  suggest  the  looking  in  his  mouth  to  tell 
his  age.  But  you  know  you  can't  always  feel  resentment  at 
a  fellow  for  being  a  natural  born  fool  when  he  is  the  con- 
tinued source  of  amusement,  no  matter  how  ridiculous  he 
may  make  himself  by  his  conceited  display. 

"  Thacker  was  his  name — James  Stanley  Thacker,  he 
wrote  it.  You  see  he  parted  his  name,  just  as  he  did  his 
hair,  right  in  the  middle.  I  have  forgotten  where  he  was 
born — somewhere  in  Pennsylvania,  I  believe — but  Balti- 
more was  his  home. 

"  He  came  to  the  White  early  in  the  season.  He  brought 
his  horses  and  his  English  manners,  and  his  British  yellow 
breeches  and  brown  short  jacket,  and  he  was  as  proud  of 
his  riding  suit  as  he  was  of  his  crop-tail  filly. 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  261 

"  When  he  rode  he  carried  a  stub- whip  and  wore  a  pair 
of  canvas  leggings.  When  he  was  on  dress  parade  the 
only  ornament  in  which  he  seemed  to  take  special  pride 
was  his  one-eyed  spy-glass,  which  he  stuck  in  his  right 
optic.     This  seemed  to  be  indispensable  to  his  happiness. 

"  He  usually  rode  at  10  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  4  in 
the  afternoon.  His  horse  would  be  brought  to  the  parlor 
door,  that  all  might  witness  the  mount.  When  he  was 
launched  he  would  incline  his  body  forward  over  the 
pommel  of  the  saddle  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees, 
and  strike  out  in  a  gait  that  seemed  to  be  a  trot  for  the 
horse  and  a  gallop  for  the  rider.  It  was  fun  to  watch 
him,  unless  you  allowed  the  question,  '  which  labors  the 
hardest,  the  horse  or  the  man,'  to  bother  your  brain. 

"  He  was  generally  quite  red  in  the  face  when  he  returned 
from  one  of  his  rides,  and  I  should  have  judged  rather 
sore  in  the  back,  guessing  from  the  number  of  times  he 
had  doubled  up  and  then  straightened  out.  But  he  said 
that  it  was  the  English  style,  and  I  suppose  he  was  will- 
ing to  endure  the  pain  to  enjoy  the  honor. 

"  He  asked  for  an  introduction  to  Miss  Helen, and  I  was 
mean  enough  to  advise  her  to  allow  it,  as  the  gentleman 
who  proposed  to  introduce  him  was,an  old  acquaintance 
of  mine.  That  was  the  only  time  I  ever  went  back  on 
Miss  Helen,  and  by  all  the  pepper  that  Peter  Piper  picked 
I'll  never  do  it  again.  For  she  paid  me  back  the  very 
next  day,  and  introduced  me  to  a  regular  bona  fide 
English  girl,  who  proved  to  be  as  meek  as  she  was  bony; 
and  as  taciturn  as  she  was  meek ;  and  most  as  deaf  as 
she  was  taciturn,  and  as  English  as  she  was  deaf. 

"  For  two  mortal  hours  I  labored  like  a  draft  horse,  and 
elocuted  like  a  Roman  orator,  and  loquatted  like  a  mag- 
pie, until  I  was  in  a  bath  of  perspiration,  but  despite  my 
Ciceronean  orations,  my  Demosthenian  phillipics,  my 
Plutonian  philosophy,  and  my  Socratic  wisdom,  the  only 
four  words  she  uttered  during  the  entire  bombardment  iu 


262  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

which  I  put  forth  my  whole  powers  physically  and  intel- 
lectually were,  *  Yes,  sir,'  when  I  asked  if  she  liked  the 
springs,  and  *No,  sir,'  when  I  asked  if  she  enjoyed  the 
water.  Each  of  the  other  nine  hundred  and  ninety  and 
nine  questions  which  I  asked  were  answered  either  by  a 
nod  of  the  head  or  by  an  expressive  smile. 

"  The  dinner  bell  finally  relieved  me,  and  as  its  tones 
rang  out  over  the  lawn  and  echoed  along  the  valley  I 
thought  the  sound  of  that  bell  was  the  sweetest  music 
that  ever  floated  on  the  sun-lit  air.'" 

Mr.  Dodge  burst  into  a  loud  laugh  as  the  story  ended, 
and  asked,  "Pray  what  did  Miss  Helen  do?" 

"  Do !  Why  she  sat  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  parlor 
and  talked  with  Governor  Letcher.  She  told  him  the 
joke  and  they  both  enjoyed  the  fun;  and  finally  he  wrote 
me  a  note,  which  said:  'Joshua  stood  in  the  valley  of 
Jehosaphat  and  commanded  the  sun  to  stand  still  and  he 
never  set  for  a  fortnight.'" 

Again  Dodge  roared  with  laughter,  and  Charles  con- 
tinuing, said : 

"Dodge,  old  fellow,  don't  ever  try  your  wits  with  a 
woman,  for  ^tju  are  sure  to  be  defeated.  They  can  com- 
mand more  resources  in  ten  minutes  than  a  man  can 
summon  to  his  aid  in  a  week." 

"  Well !  I  will  believe  that,  but  tell  me  how  Miss  Helen 
got  on  with  her  Anglicized  American?" 

"  Oh,  that  was  capital  fun,  too.  When  he  was  intro- 
duced to  Miss  Helen,  he  said:  '  You  are  from  Virginia,  I 
believe.  Miss  Moore?  Claim  to  be  an  F.  F.  V.,  of  course. 
Never  saw  a  Virginian  that  did  not  claim  to  be 
anF.  F.V.'" 

"  *  Yes ! '  said  Miss  Helen,  hinder  meekly, '  I  am  so 
unfortunate  as  to  belong  to  that  family.' " 

"'Not  a  misfortune,  Miss  Moore;  no,  not  a  misfortune, 
by  any  means.  It  is  quite  a  large  family,  they  Fay,  and 
one  of  the  oldest  in  the  State,  I  hear.  Indeed  you  should 
consider  it  quite  an  honor  to  be  so  happily  connected.' " 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  263 

"'Indeed  I*  said  Helen, rather  puzzled  to  catch  the  drift 
of  his  argument,  but  woman-like  she  smiled — a  compound 
smile — puzzlement  and  curiosit}^  mixed.  Thacker  inter- 
preted the  smile  to  suit  himself.  That  was  man  like. 
He  took  it  to  be  complimentary  of  his  sensible  remarks, 
and  launched  his  frail  bark  further  out  on  the  unknown 
sea." 

"  '  Indeed ! '  he  said,  continuing,  '  it  is  a  very  large 
family.  There  is  a  branch  of  it  up  in  my  native  town  in 
Pennsylvania.  They  are  great  friends  of  mine,  but  they 
spell  their  name  Smythe.  I  am  sure  that  is  the  way  they 
spell  it,  but  the  spelling  is  a  provincialism,  I  suppose.'" 

"'It  must  be,'  replied  Helen,  now  more  puzzled  than 
ever,  for  the  expression  of  Thacker's  face  showed  that  he 
was  in  dead  earnest.  Miss  Helen  did  not  know  what 
else  to  say,  so  she  smiled  that  compound  smile  again — • 
puzzlement,  curiosity,  and  mischief  this  time;  so  Thacker 
rushed  ahead. 

"  'Yes,  I  know  it  is  a  provincialism.  I  heard  my  father 
say  that  they  were  very  peculiar  people,  but  that  they 
were  descended  directly  from  Captain  Smith.  Do  you 
trace  your  connection  with  the  family  through  your 
father  or  your  mother.  Miss  Moore  ? ' 

"'Both,'  said  Helen,  still  uncertain  of  his  meaning. 

" '  Ah !  that  is  fortunate — a  double  F.  F.  V.  I  can  really 
say  I  am  most  happy  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  one 
so  distinguished.  By  the  way.  Miss  Moore,  I  saw  in  a 
New  York  paper  the  other  day  an  article  denying  that 
Captain  Smith  was  ever  rescued  by  Pocahontas.  The 
paper  said  that  Pocahontas  was  a  Myth,  or  something 
like  that — I  did  not  quite  understand,  but  I  never  heard 
of  the  Myth  family, so  concluded  it  was  a  'typographical' 
error  in  the  spelling,  and  that  the  S  was  just  omitted. 
Anyway,  the  paper  stated  that  Captain  Smith  was  not 
rescued  by  an  Indian  girl,  but  that  she  was  a  Myth,  by 
which  I  suppose  the  paper  meant  that  the  girl  was  a 
member  of  the  Captain's  own  family — a  sister,  perhaps,* 


264  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 


u  I 


Indeed!'  said  Helen,  now  scarcely  able  to  keep  her 
countenance,  but  not  wishing  to  be  rude.  '  Captain 
Smith  was  rescued  by  the  Indian  maiden  Pocahontas. 
There  is  no  part  of  the  early  history  of  our  State  more 
fully  authenticated.' 

"  'I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  so.  Miss  Moore ;  indeed  I 
am  glad  to  hear  you  say  so — I  am  delighted — for  I 
thought  at  the  time  that  I  saw  the  article  that  it  was  a 
pity  to  discredit  so  romantic  a  story  as  the  rescue  of  Cap- 
tain Smith  by  the  Indian  girl,  and  then  his  gratitude 
shown  in  their  subsequent  marriage.' '.' 

"This  was  too  much  for  prudence  or  politeness  to  stand. 
The  climax  of  historical  ignorance  was  reached,  and 
Helen  burst  into  a  good,  round  laugh,  while  the  Angli- 
cized American  stood  by,  dumbfounded  with  amazement. 
He  saw  nothing  to  laugh  at,  yet  the  twinkle  of  Miss 
Helen's  eye  told  him  that  he  was  the  object  of  her  merry 
laugh.  He  stood  a  moment  much  confused,  and  then 
asked  with  a  bewildered  expression  on  his  face  the  occa- 
sion of  her  laughter. 

"Miss  Helen  explained  to  him,  as  soon  as  her  enjoy- 
ment of  the  joke  would  permit  her  to  do  so,  that  it  was 
the  first  time  in  her  life  that  she  had  ever  heard  that 
Pocahontas  and  Captain  Smith  were  married.  At  this 
Mr.  Thacker  seemed  more  amazed  than  ever,  and  asked: 

"'Then  what  was  the  origin  of  the  F.  F.  V.  family? ' 

"'That,'  replied  Miss  Helen,  *is  a  long  story,  and  you 
really  must  excuse  me  until  some  other  day.' 

"'Certainly,'  said  Mr.  Thacker,  'but  I  shall  remind 
you  of  it  and  insist  upon  the  account.'  Then,  consult- 
ing his  watch,  continued:  *I  have  an  engagement  to 
ride  at  this  hour.  You  will  please  excuse  me,  Miss 
Moore,'  and  he  bowed  low  and  withdrew. 

"It  was  the  very  next  day  that  she  paid  me  back  with 
the  English  girl  for  change.  I  took  my  dose  the  best  I 
could,  but  no  sooner  did  the  shackles  fall  from  me  than 


YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE.  265 

I  went  straight  to  Miss  Helen  and  cried, 'Peccavi — pec- 
cavi.'  She  forgave  me,  but  to  cry  British  at  me,  even  to 
this  day  brings  on  a  spasmodic  attack  of  cataleptic  fits!" 

"British!"  screamed  Dodge,  and  jumped  at  Charles; 
whereupon  Charles  rolled  over  on  the  bed,  grasped  his 
sides  with  his  hands,  and  immediately  went  into  impro- 
vised convulsions. 

"  Quit  the  law  and  go  upon  the  stage,  you  chuckle- 
headed  imp  of  high  tragedy,"  cried  Mr.  Dodge.  "  You 
have  missed  your  calling." 

"I'll  do  it,"  cried  Charles,  springing  up  wildly;  "but 
which  had  you  rather  be,  a  married  man  or  go  a-fish- 


mg 


?" 


"  Go  a-fishing,"  cried  Dodge. 

"  Then '  boots  and  spurs,'  and  we  will  ride  for  the  Grove. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

HELEN  had  mounted  her  horse  for  a  morning's  ride 
around  the  plantation,  accompanied  by  Uncle  Ben 
in  his  position  as  factotum,  that  he  might  let  down  the 
bars  for  her  and  play  the  part  of  a  general  protector. 
The  old  man  prided  himself  on  his  horse  knowledge;  he 
was  still  a  good  rider,  and  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures 
of  his  life  w^as  to  ride  around  and  see  to  the  comfort  and 
safety  of  his  young  "Mistis." 

They  had  left  the  house  but  a  short  time  when  she  saw 
what  she  at  first  glance  took  to  be  a  long-legged,  j'ellowish 
red  dog  leap  the  fence  just  in  front  of  her  and  dart  down 
the  road ;  at  almost  the  same  moment  she  heard  the  cry 
of  the  hounds  close  at  hand  coming  in  full  chase. 

"A  fox — a  fox!  Miss  Helen,"  exclaimed  Uncle  Ben, 
much  excited,  and  almost  in  a  twinkling  the  full  pack 
came  rolling  over  the  fence  in  hot  chase.  Uncle  Ben,  in 
his  excitement,  harked  to  the  hounds  and  away  they 
went.  Nellie  caught  the  excitement,  and  was  as  ready 
for  the  run  as  her  rider.  Helen  had  ridden  to  hounds 
before,  and  was  in  for  the  sport.  She  gave  her  horse  the 
reins,  and  the  swift  animal  fairly  flew  after  the  hounds 
that  were  now  making  the  hills  ring  with  their  cry. 

Nellie  was  swift,  as  we  know,  and  her  rider  was  skilled 
and  fearless;  but  the  fox  was  fresh  and  the  hounds  w^ere 
of  the  best  breed ;  so  fox,  dogs,  and  horse  seemed  to  fairly 
fly  in  the  sight  chase,  and  the  gallant  mare  had  all  that 
she  could  do  to  keep  from  being  distanced.  The  fox  kept 
the  straight  road  for  some  two  miles  or  more,  carrying 
his  brush  curled  over  his  back  as  proudly  as  though  he, 
too,  was  enjoying  the  run.  The  excitement  was  intense, 
(266) 


YANKEE  DOODLE   DIXIE.  567 

and  the  gallant  little  lady  was  enjoying  it  to  the  utmost. 
Uncle  Ben  was  left  far  in  the  rear;  but  he,  too,  thundered 
along  at  a  good  rate,  ambitious  to  be  up  at  the  death. 
Tiie  fox  finally  turned  short  to  the  right,  leaped  the  fence 
and  made  for  the  river.  The  dogs  did  not  see  him  at  the 
moment  he  left  the  road,  owing  to  a  slight  bend,  and  so 
in  their  headlong  pursuit  ran  over  the  track  some  hun- 
dred yards  or  more,  but  quickly  returned  to  the  trail. 
Reynard  made  good  use  of  this  lost  time,  and  widened 
the  distance  between  him  and  the  hounds  considerably. 
The  momentary  confusion  gave  Uncle  Ben  time  to  come 
up ;  he  sprang  from  his  horse,  pushed  down  the  top  rail 
of  the  fence,  and  Nellie,  too  impatient  to  be  restrained, 
went  over  at  a  flying  leap,  and  away  they  all  went  again 
on  a  dead  run.  Helen's  cheeks  were  aglow  with  excite- 
ment. She  looked  the  queen  of  the  chase,  while  the  dogs 
seemed  to  realize  her  presence  and  did  their  best  for  her 
benefit.  The  fox  crossed  the  river  and  took  a  circuit  of 
about  a  mile  around  a  hill,  and  then  came  back  again. 
Helen  and  old  Ben  had  fallen  behind  while  fording  the 
river,  but  perceiving  from  the  cry  of  the  hounds  that  the 
fox  was  returning  to  the  river  again,  they  took  a  short 
cut  and  came  up  with  the  chase  just  as  the  hounds  came 
sweeping  down  the  hill.  Again  the  chase  was  all  exciting. 
The  fox  was  out  of  sight,  but  the  trail  was  hot  and  the 
dogs  were  running  all  in  a  bunch.  Away  they  went,  each 
one  struggling  for  the  lead,  yelping  at  every  leap,  Helen 
following  at  a  fall  run,  her  beautiful  mare  straining  every 
nerve  to  keep  pace  with  the  hounds.  Right  back  up  the 
river  the  fox  fairly  flew,  the  dogs  pressing  him  in  red-hot 
haste.  Just  as  the  fox  reached  a  point  opposite  Mr. 
Reed's,  he  turned  sharp  to  the  left  and  headed  for  the 
mountains,  which  were  distant  some  five  miles.  It  was  a 
bold  move,  and  showed  that  the  fox  was  still  fresh  and 
confident  of  his  strength. 

Charles  and  Mr.  Dodge,  who  had  started  for  the  Grove, 
had  heard  the  hounds  coming;  had  seen  Helen,  followed 


368  YANKEE   DOODLE  DIXIE. 

by  Uncle  Ben,  flying  along  the  river  road.  They  dashed 
spurs  into  their  horses  and  came  tearing  down  the  hill, 
and  reached  the  opposite  bank  of  the  stream  just  as  the 
dogs  swept  by.  The  ford  here  was  deep,  but  Charles  had 
crossed  it  many  a  time,  and  knew  that  there  was  no  dan- 
ger in  following  the  regular  track;  but  just  below  the 
ford  there  was  an  old  mill-dam,  and  below  the  dam  the 
water  was  very  deep.  Charles  pressed  his  horse  into  the 
river  and  called  to  Mr.  Dodge,  who  was  close  behind,  to 
follow  directly  in  his  lead.  Mr.  Dodge  responded, 
"I  yie,"  and  out  into  the  water  they  rushed.  At 
the  middle  of  the  river,  where  the  water  rippled,  the 
course  of  the  ford  turned  up  the  stream,  and  bore  to  the 
left.  When  Charles  turned  up  he  thought  Mr.  Dodge, 
who  was  Justin  his  rear,  would  of  course  follow  him; 
but  in  the  excitement  Mr.  Dodge  had  aimed  to  reach  the 
bank  first,  and  kept  straight  ahead.  Just  then  Charles  was 
startled  by  a  scream  from  Helen,  which  rose  above  the 
roar  of  the  water,  and  sounded  along  the  hills.  She  had 
leaped  from  her  horse  and  came  rushing  down  towards 
the  river  in  the  wildest  excitement,  pointing  ber  hand  as 
she  ran.  Charles  looked  back  just  in  time  to  see — Oh  ! 
horror,  Mr.  Dodge  disappear  in  deep  water.  He  had 
fallen  from  his  horse,  which  was  now  swimming  for  the 
bank,  but  Mr.  Dodge  was  being  carried  rapidly  by  the  fast 
running  current  directly  towards  the  dam.  To  go  over  that 
dam  was  certain  death.  Below  it  the  water  was  boiling 
and  seething  and  roaring  and  leaping  in  mad  waves. 
But  Charles  Reed  was  not  the  man  to  stand  idly  by  and 
see  a  stranger,  much  less  a  friend,  die;  quick  as  thought 
he  turned  his  horse's  head  down  the  stream  and  drove 
the  rowels  into  her  flanks.  The  spirited  animal,  mad- 
dened with  pain,  made  a  tremendous  lunge  and  struck 
deep  water  and  swam  at  a  fearful  rate,  aided  by  the  cur- 
rent, straight  towards  the  dam;  a  few  yards  more  and 
Mr.  Dodge  would  be  hurled  over  that  dam,  down  into 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  269 

that  surging,  seething  pool  of  angry  water.  That  is  cer- 
tain death.  Again  and  again  Charles  pressed  the  rowels 
of  his  spurs  into  the  sides  of  his  horse,  and  nobly  did 
that  noble  steed  respond;  her  nostrils  were  wide  with 
fear,  and  her  strokes  swept  along  as  wheels  driven  by 
steam.  Again  and  again  Helen  screamed  now  in  mortal 
fear  for  her  lover's  safety,  but  Charles  heard  her  not ;  his 
lips  were  })ressed  together  in  the  very  agonies  of  suspense. 
He  seemed  not  to  heed  his  own  danger,  nor  to  see  the 
death  to  which  he,  himself,  was  rushing ;  to  save  his 
friend  was  his  sole  thought;  on  and  on  the  swift  waters 
swept  him  until  he  was  in  ten  feet  of  that  dam  of  death, 
and  here,  just  as  the  hissing  water  tossed  Mr.  Dodge  to 
the  surface,  Charles  grasped  him  by  the  hair  and  turned 
his  horse  to  breast  the  tide.  The  splendid  animal  was 
terribly  frightened  and  struggled  in  the  desperation  of 
despair.  Every  muscle  was  strained  as  though  it  would 
burst,  and  her  strokes  were  as  swift  as  tlie  lightnings 
flash.  Helen  stood  speechless,  petrified  with  the  terror 
and  the  agony  of  despair.  It  was  an  awful  moment. 
The  desperate  efforts  of  the  mare  to  stem  the  tide  were 
balanced  by  the  force  of  the  rushing  current,  and  the 
equilibrium  produced  kept  the  living  in  the  very  agonies 
of  torturing  suspense.  There  they  stood  still  in  the  dread- 
ful struggle,  hanging  as  it  were,  between  life  and  death. 

But  flesh  and  bone  could  not  prevail  against  the  terri- 
ble force  of  that  surging  water ;  they  yield ;  they  are 
borne  back,  and  like  a  shot  the  victims  were  swept  over 
the  dam,  deep  down  into  that*  seething  cauldron. 

Helen  gave  one  wild  heart-broken  shriek  and  leaped 
into  the  water,  but  Uncle  Ben  caught  her  dress,  jerked 
her  back  and  she  fell  senseless  to  the  ground. 

When  Charles  was  swept  over  the  dam  he  lost  his  hold 
on  his  saddle,  but  he  still  retained  his  grip  in  Mr.  Dodge's 
hair,  who  was  now  nearly  drowned.  Three  times  Charles 
came  to  the  surface,  but  each  time  only  to  bo  rolled  back 


270  YANKEE  DOODLE   DIXIE. 

and  buried  in  the  deep  whirling  waters.  Uncle  Ben  saw 
the  struggle  for  life,  and  the  old  man  possessed  a  spirit 
akin  to  that  of  his  young  master ;  quick  as  thought  he 
tied  one  end  of  a  long  rope  which,  by  chance,  he  happened 
to  have,  to  a  bush,  fastened  the  other  end  around  his  waist, 
and,  just  as  Charles  sank  the  third  time,  leaped  into  the 
water.  To  trust  his  life  to  that  mad,  dashing,  foaming 
water  was  to  invite  almost  certain  death,  but  the  old  man 
loved  Charles,  and  true  love  knows  no  danger.  Over  and 
over  the  water  rolled  him,  now  under,  now  up,  all  the 
while  struggling  on  to  the  spot  he  last  saw  Charles, 
holding  his  breath  as  best  he  could,  and  just  at  the  mo- 
ment when  he  felt  that  he  could  do  no  more,  the  water 
tossed  Charles  to  the  surface.  The  old  man  grabbed  him 
by  the  arm,  then  caught  his  coat  sleeve  in  his  teeth,  and 
with  both  hands  pulled  away  on  the  rope  with  all  his 
might. 

"Saved!"  cried  the  old  man.  "Thank  God,  I  is  saved 
him." 

Charles's  hand  was  still  grasped  in  Mr.  Dodge's  hair, 
so  he  too  was  dragged  ashore. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  Union  had  been  dissolved ;  a  convention  of  the 
seven  seceding  States  was  called  and  met  at  Mont- 
gomery, Alabama,  on  February  4th,  1861,  and  the  work 
of  that  convention  was  to  frame  a  provisional  govern- 
ment, which  was  duly  adopted  on  the  following  9th. 
Thus  the  Confederate  States  of  America  were  started  on 
their  career  of  brilliant  military  achievements;  but  short 
lived  and  ill-starred  destiny. 

The  question  of  the  right  of  secession  was  regarded  by 
the  whole  South  not  even  as  a  doubtful  or  debatable 
question. 

Massachusetts  and  New  Jersey  both  had  most  distinctly 
asserted  the  right  and  threatened  to  exercise  it,  far  back 
in  the  history  of  the  American  Union ;  and  the  whole 
North,  in  Congress  as  well  as  out  of  Congress,  had  repeat- 
edly passed  upon  questions  and  issues  and  measures  from 
which  the  right,  for  just  cause,  would  logically  flow.  The 
celebrated  Kentucky  and  Virginia  resolutions  of  '98 
and  '99,  of  which  mention,  has  been  made,  declared  as  we 
have  said,  but  will  repeat  "  that  the  several  States  com- 
posing the  United  States  of  America  are  not  United  on 
the  principle  of  unlimited  submission  to  the  General 
Government ;  but  that  they  are  united  by  a  compact ;  and 
that  they  constituted  the  General  Government  for  special 
purposes — delegated  to  that  Government  certain  definite 
powers — reserving  each  State  to  itself  the  residuary  mass 
of  right  to  their  own  self-government — and  that  when- 
soever the  Gpneral  Government  assumed  undelegated 
powers,  its  acts  are  unauthoritative,  void,  and  of  no  force. 
That  this  Government,  created  by  this  compact,  was  not 
(271), 


272  YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE. 

made  the  exclusive  or  final  judge  of  the  extent  of  the 
powers  delegated.  And  that  each  State  has  an  equal 
right  to  judge  for  itself,  as  well  of  infractions  as  of  the 
mode  and  manner  of  redress." 

Again  we  will  repeat  that  on  these  as  a  party  platform 
Thomas  Jefferson,  who  was  their  admitted  author,  was, 
by  an  overwhelming  majority,  swept  into  the  Presidency 
in  the  year  1800  and  again  re-elected  in  1805. 

These  resolutions  are  the  origin  of  the  Jeffersonian  school 
in  American  politics,  as  we  have  said,  and  they  are  the 
foundation  of  what  is  known  as  the  States  Rights  Doctrine; 
and  denial  is  challenged  that  any  President  from  Jeffer- 
son to  Lincoln  was  ever  elected  who  held  views  or  advo- 
cated principles  to  the  contrary. 

It  was  upon  these  resolutions  that  the  great  contest  of 
1800  between  the  so-called  Federal  and  Jeffersonian 
parties  was  so  fiercely  waged.  Jefferson  as  the  acknowl- 
edged leader  of  the  State  Sovereignty  Party,  was  chosen 
as  the  standard  bearer  of  the  principles  set  forth  in  the 
resolutions.  The  result  of  that  election  is  known  to  the 
world.  It  was  a  complete  triumph  of  the  State  Sovereignty 
Doctrine.  The  issue  as  to  a  strict  construction  of  the 
Constitution  was  squarely  made  in  the  canvass — decided 
by  the  result  of  that  election,  and  that  decision  strictly 
adhered  to  by  the  dominant  parties  clear  down  to  the 
election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  1860. 

It  may  be  said  that  these  resolutions  clearly  settled 
eight  points  in  so  far  as  what  was  the  people's  construc- 
tion of  the  Constitution  in  1800. 

1st.  That  the  States  were  not  bound  to  yield  unlimited 
submission  to  the  General  Government. 

2d.  That  the  Union  was  a  compact  and  the  States  were 
the  parties. 

3d.  That  the  General  Government  was  constituted  by 
the  States  for  special  purposes  and  that  its  powers  were 
defined. 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  273 

4ili.  Taut  eveiy  pjwer  not  expressly  delegated  was 
reserved  by  the  States  to  the  States. 

5th.  That  whenever  the  General  Government  assumed 
undelegated  j^ower,  its  acts  were  null  and  void. 

Gth.  That  the  General  Government  was  not  made  the 
exclusive  or  final  judge  as  to  what  powers  were  delegated. 

7th.  That  each  State  had  an  equal  right  to  judge  for 
itself  when,  or  whether  there  was  an  infraction  of  the 
Constitution 

8th.  That  in  case  of  an  infraction  of  the  Constitution 
each  State  had  the  right  to  judge  for  itself  what  manner 
of  redress  it  would  employ. 

They  are  plain.  No  one  can  misconstrue.  Their  his- 
tory is  not  a  question  of  dispute. 

On  the  22d  day  of  Januar}^  1833,  Mr.  Calhoun  intro- 
duced into  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  a  series  of 
resolutions,  which  ]\Ir.  Webster  said  effectually  affirmed 
two  plain  and  distinct  propositions — 

1.  "That  the  political  system  of  the  United  States  is  a 
compact,  to  which  the  people  of  the  several  States  as 
separate  and  sovereign  communities  are  the  parties." 

2.  "  That  these  parties  have  a  right  to  judge,  each  for 
itself,  of  any  alleged  violation  of  the  Constitution  by 
Congress,  and  in  case  of  such  violation  to  chose,  each  for 
itself,  its  own  mode  and  measure  of  jredress." 

The  grandest  debate  that  ever  took  place  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  was  upon  these  resolutions.  The  issue 
of  that  debate  we  will  see  later,  but  will  say  now  in  pass- 
ing, it  was  a  complete  vindication  of  the  doctrine  of  State 
Sovereignty.  It  is  plain  that  these  resolutions  are  noth- 
ing more  nor  less  than  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  reso- 
lutions of  '93  and  '99,  which  the  people  in  the  canvass 
of  1800  approved  and  endorsed,  and  which  it  was  now 
proposed  that  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  should 
declare  to  be  the  true  construction  of  the  Constitution, 
and  a  correct  exposition  of  our  system  of  government. 
13 


274  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

Mr.  Webster,  in  the  course  of  that  debate,  made  use  of 
the  following  language :  "  Where  sovereign  communities 
are  the  parties,  there  is  no  essential  difference  between  a 
compact  and  a  league.  A  league  is  but  a  subsisting  or 
continuing  treaty.  The  resolutions  then  affirm  in  effect 
that  these  United  States  are  held  together  only  by  a  sub- 
sisting treaty,  and  that  the  Union  is  but  a  league.  Other 
consequences  naturally  follow,  too,  from  the  main  propo- 
sition. If  a  league  between  sovereign  powers  have  no 
limitation  as  to  the  time  of  its  duration  and  contain 
nothing  to  make  it  perpetual,  it  subsists  only  during  the 
good  pleasure  of  the  parties,  even  though  no  violation  be 
complained  of.  If,  in  the  opinion  of  either  party,  it  be 
violated,  such  party  may  say  that  he  will  no  longer  fulfil 
its  obligations  on  his  part,  but  will  consider  the  whole 
league  or  compact  at  an  end. 

"  The  necessary  import,  therefore,  is  that  the  United 
States  are  only  connected  by  a  league ;  that  it  is  in  the 
good  pleasure  of  every  State  to  decide  how  long  she  will 
choose  to  remain  a  member  of  the  league;  that  any  State 
may  determine  the  extent  of  her  own  obligations  under 
it ;  that  slie  may  also  determine  whether  her  rights  have 
been  violated,  and  what  mode  and  measure  of  redress 
her  wrongs  may  make  it  fit  and  expedient  for  her  to 
adopt.  The  result  of  the  whole  is  that  any  State  may 
secede  at  pleasure." 

Mr.  Webster  here  clearly  admits  that  if  the  resolutions 
are  a  correct  exposition  of  the  political  system  of  the 
General  Government,  the  right  of  secession  logically  and 
indisputably  follows.  Then  if  the  Constitution  is  a  com- 
pact, and  the  States  as  sovereign  communities  are  the 
parties  and  had  the  right  to  judge  of  infractions  and  vio- 
lations by  another  State  or  by  Congress  itself,  and  the 
right  to  judge  also  of  the  mode  and  measure  of  redress, 
is  there  any  intelligent  man  or  woman  who  will  deny 
the  right  of  secession  ? 


TANKEE  DOODLE   DIXIE.  276 

But  more.  On  the  28tli  day  of  December,  1837,  Mr. 
Calhoun  renewed  the  subject  in  the  Senate  and  brought 
forward  the  same  resolutions,  covering  the  same  ground 
and  embodying  the  same  principles,  and  then  pressed 
them  to  a  vote  and  they  passed  the  Senate  by  the  large 
majority  of  thirty-two  to  thirteen. 

The  first  of  these  last  resolutions  among  other  things 
says"  that  in  adopting  the  Federal  Constitution,  the  States 
adopting  the  same  acted  severally,  as  free,  independent, 
and  sovereign  States."  So,  then,  if  the  Senate  was  correct 
in  its  exposition  of  the  Constitution  and  Webster  was 
correct  in  his  logic,  the  right  of  secession  was  settled. 

But  again  after  these  resolutions  had  passed;  after  the 
discussion  which  took  place  in  the  Senate  in  1833  and 
again  in  1837,  had  gone  to  the  country;  after  the  renewal 
of  the  Virginia  and  Kentucky  resolutions  of  '98  and  '99  ; 
after  Massachusetts,  opposing  the  annexation  of  Texas  in 
1844  by  her  legislature,  had  "Resolved  that  the  project  of 
the  annexation  of  Texas  unless  arrested  on  the  threshold 
may  drive  these  States  into  a  dissolution  of  the  Union," 
and  then  again  by  her  legislature  on  the  22nd  day  of 
February,  1835,  "  Resolved  that  as  the  powers  of  legisla- 
tion granted  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  to 
Congress  do  not  embrace  the  case  of  admitting  a  foreign 
State  into  the  Union — such  an  act  of  admission  would 
have  no  binding  force  whatsoever  on  the  people  of  Mas- 
sachusetts." Again  after  loyal  Massachusetts  had  by  her 
patriotic  and  law-loving  legislature  in  1803,  "  Resolved 
that  the  annexation  of  Louisiana  to  the  Union  transcends 
the  constitutional  powers  of  the  general  government  of 
the  United  States,  that  by  such  annexation  it  formed  a 
new  confederacy  to  which  the  States  united  by  the  former 
compact  are  not  hound  to  adhere."  Yes,  after  all  this, 
Mr.  Webster  in  a  speech  made  at  Capon  Springs,  Virginia, 
on  the  28th  day  of  June,  1851,  in  response  to  the  toast, 
"The  Union  of  the  States,"  said :     "How  absurd  it  is  to 


276  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

suppose  that  when  different  parties  enter  into  a  compact 
for  certain  purposes,  either  can  disregard  any  one  provis- 
sion  and  expect,  nevertlieless,  the  other  to  observe  the  rest. 
It  is  written  in  the  Constitution  that '  no  person  held  to 
service  or  labor  in  one  State  under  the  laws  thereof,  escap- 
ing into  another  State,  shall  in  consequence  of  any  law  or 
regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or 
labor;  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to 
whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due.'  This  is  as 
much  a  part  of  the  Constitution  as  any  other,  and  as 
equally  binding  and  obligatory  as  any  other  on  all  men, 
public  or  private,  and  who  denies  this?  None  but  abo- 
litionists of  the  North ;  and  pray  what  is  it  they  will  not 
deny  ?  I  have  not  hesitated  to  say,  and  I  repeat,  that  if 
the  Northern  States  refuse  wilfully  and  deliberately  to 
carry  into  effect  this  part  of  the  Constitution  which  respects 
the  restoration  of  fugitive  slaves,  and  Congress  provide 
no  remedy,  the  South  would  no  longer  be  bound  to  observe 
the  compact.  I  am  as  ready  to  fight  and  to  fall  for  the 
constitutional  rights  of  Virginia  as  I  am  for  those  of 
Massachusetts." 

It  has  been  said  of  Mr.  Webster  by  a  Southern  man, 
who  sleeps  in  his  grave,  dishonored  if  participation  in  the 
so-called  rebellion  makes  it  so,  *'  that  Mr.  Webster  was  too 
great  a  man,  and  had  too  great  an  intellect,  not  to  seethe 
truth  when  it  was  presented,  and  that  he  was  a  man  too 
honest  and  too  pure  and  too  patriotic  not  to  proclaim  a 
truth,  when  he  saw  it,  even  to  an  unwilling  people." 

On  the  23rd  day  of  February,  1855,  Senator  Wade,  of 
Ohio,  since  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  in  a  speech 
delivered  in  the  Senate,  said :  "  Who  is  to  be  the  judge,  in 
the  last  resort,  of  the  violations  of  the  Constitution  by  the 
enactment  of  a  law?  Who  is  tlie  final  arbiter?  The  Gen- 
eral Government  or  the  States  in  their  sovereignty?" 
"  Why,  sir,  to  yield  up  this  point  is  to  yield  up  all  the 
rights  of  the  States  to  protect  their  citizens.     I  said  that- 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  277 

I  was  one  of  those  who  believed  the  bill  unconstitutional. 
My  State  believed  it  unconstitutional,  and  that  under  the 
old  resolutions  of  '98  and  '99  the  State  must  not  only  be 
the  judge  of  that,  but  also  of  the  remedy  in  such  a  case." 

Again  so  late  as  the  29th  day  of  February,  1860,  a 
series  of  resolutions  were  submitted  to  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  the  first  of  which,  among  other  things, 
said:  "That  in  adopting  the  Federal  Constitution,  the 
States  adopting  the  same  acted  severally  as  free  and  inde- 
pendent sovereignties;  and  that  any  intermeddling  by 
any  one  or  more  States,  or  by  a  combination  of  their  citi- 
zens with  the  domestic  institution  of  slavery,  on  any  pre- 
text whatever,  political,  moral  or  religious,  with  a  view 
to  their  disturbance  or  subversion  is  in  violation  of  the 
Constitution,  insulting  to  the  States  so  interfered  with, 
endangers  their  domestic  peace  and  tranquility,  and,  by 
necessary  consequence,  tends  to  weaken  and  destroy  the 
Union ;  and  that  no  change  of  opinion  or  feeling  in  rela- 
tion to  the  institution  of  slavery  can  justify  them  or  their 
citizens,  in  open  or  covert  attacks,  thereon  with  a  view  to 
its  overthrow ;  and  that  all  such  attacks  are  in  manifest 
violation  of  the  mutual  and  solemn  pledge  to  protect  and 
defend  each  otlier  on  entering  into  the  constitutional 
compact,  are  a  breach  of  faith  and  a  violation  of  the  most 
solemn  obligation." 

These  resolutions  actually  passed  the  Senate  on  the 
20th  day  of  May,  1860,  by  a  vote  of  36  to  19.  They 
were  introduced  by  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi. 
Poor  old  man !  He  was  then  the  peer  of  Thad.  Stevens, 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Salmon  P.  Chase,  William  H.  Seward, 
Charles  Sumner,  Wade,  Wilson,  Hamlin,  Hale,  Harlan 
and  even  Abraham  Lincoln  himself;  but  now  alas,  his 
star,  once  so  bright,  pales  in  the  mist  of  failure  and  defeat. 
He  gave  the  best  energies  of  his  life  to  maintain  the 
principles  he  had  inherited  from  the  framers  and  ex- 
pounders of  the  Constitution  of  our  country.    He  defended 


278  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

them  as  he  understood  them,  and  as  the  resolutions  of 
'98  and  '99,  of  '33  and  '37  and  1860  declared  them ;  but 
he  failed,  and  the  failure  has  made  him  a  traitor,  stamped 
him  disloyal,  named  him  a  rebel,  and  marked  him  the 
object  of  obloquy  and  the  target  of  hate  and  vitupera- 
tion. 

In  the  conscious  rectitude  of  his  aims  and  endeavors 
must  rest  his  only  consolation,  and  may  the  sweetest  rest 
and  peace  comfort  him  in  his  declining  years,  and  may  no 
bitterness  linger  in  his  heart  against  those  who  misun- 
derstood him,  misjudged  him,  and  cruelly  persecuted 
him. 

I  never  have — I  trust  I  never  may — cherish  resentment 
against  any  who  I  believe  have  acted  from  a  conscien- 
tious conviction,  and  I  ask  the  world  to  join  me  in  extend- 
ing the  same  charity  towards  all  mankind. 

On  the  28th  day  of  January,  1848,  Mr.  Lincoln  made 
a  speech  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States,  in  which  speech  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "Any  people, 
anywhere,  being  inclined  and  having  the  power,  have  the 
right  to  rise  up  and  shake  off  the  existing  government, 
and  form  a  new  one  that  suits  them  better.  This  is  a 
most  valuable  right — a  sacred  right — a  right  which  we 
hope  and  believe  is  to  liberate  the  world."  Doubt  the 
speech  if  you  will,  kind  reader,  but  before  you  deny  look 
to  the  Congressional  Globe,  first  session,  Thirteenth  Con- 
gress, page  94.  Then  again, even  in  his  inaugural  address, 
what  seems  more  remarkable,  coming  at  such  a  time  from 
such  a  source,  he  said:  "Think,  if  you  can,  of  a  single 
instance  in  which  a  plainly  written  provision  of  the  Con- 
stitution has  ever  been  denied." 

"If  by  the  mere  force  of  numbers  a  majority  should 
deprive  a  minority  of  any  clearly  written  constitutional 
right,  it  might  in  a  moral  point  of  view  justify  revolution. 
It  certainly  would  if  such  right  were  a  vital  one.  .  .  . 
This  country,  with  its  institutions,  belongs  to  the  people 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  279 

who  inhabit  it.  When  they  shall  grow  weary  of  the 
existing  government,  they  can  exercise  their  constitu- 
tional right  of  amending,  or  their  revolutionary  right  to 
dismember  it.  .  .  .  Why  should  there  not  be  a  patient 
confidence  in  the  ultimate  justice  of  the  people  ?  Is  there 
any  better  or  equal  hope  in  the  world  ?  In  our  present 
differences,  is  either  party  without  faith  in  being  in  the 
right?" 

What  an  admission!  The  right  to  dismember  the 
Union  expressly  admitted — nay,  positively  asserted.  He 
calls  it  a  revolutionary  right ;  but  still  he  calls  it  a  right, 
and  qualifies  it  as  a  moral  right — a  sacred  right,  a  most 
valuable  right — a  right  which  he  hopes  and  believes  is  to 
liberate  the  world. 

If  it  is  indeed  a  moral  right — a  sacred  right — a  valu- 
able right,  it  is,  or  was,  or  ought  to  be,  a  legal  right;  and 
if  a  legal  right,  who  ought  to  have  the  right  to  deny  its 
exercise  ? 

Can  two  rigJds  antagonize  ?  Should  they  jar?  Ought 
they  to  conflict?  Does  might  alone  create  right?  Can 
there  be  a  legal  or  moral  right  to  deny  or  overthrow  a 
valuable  or  sacred  right?  In  the  Omniscient  eye  there 
cannot  be  any  such  conflict  of  rights.  Such  ethics  would 
darken  the  whole  moral  world,  and  sweep  the  noblest 
attributes  of  the  mind  and  soul  and  spirit  into  the  very 
vortex  of  animal  life  and  physical  power. 

Man  is  the  frail  creature  of  the  dust,  limited  in  wis- 
dom, erring  in  judgment,  blinded  by  prejudice,  and  influ- 
enced by  self-interest,  and  so,  in  their  conceptions  of  truth 
what  they  call  their  rights  will  conflict,  will  impinge,  will 
Jar.  Manhood  and  supposed  duty  drive  them  to  open 
contention,  and  there  the  laws  of  the  physical  world  pre- 
vail, and  so  the  battle  is  fought  and  the  race  is  run  from 
the  cradle  to  the  grave. 

On  the  0th  of  November,  1860,  two  days  after  the  elec- 
tion of  Mr.  Lincoln,  Mr,  Horace  Greeley,  in  a  leading 


280  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

editorial  published  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  as  he  for 
himself  has  confessed  the  authorship  in  his  "  American 
Conflict,"  said:  'The  people  of  the  United  States  have 
indicated  their  desire  that  Abraham  Lincoln  shall  be 
their  next  President.  Some  people  do  not  like  this,  as  is 
very  natural.  It  is  decidedly  pleasanter  to  be  on  the 
winning  side.  The  telegraph  informs  us  that  most  of 
the  cotton  States  are  meditating  a  withdrawal  from  the 
Union  on  account  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  election.  Very  well ; 
they  have  a  right  to  meditate,  and  meditation  is  a  pro- 
fitable employment  of  leisure.  We  say,  if  any  one  sees 
fit  to  meditate  disunion  let  him  do  so  unmolested.  That 
was  a  base  and  hypocritical  row  that  was  raised  about 
the  ears  of  John  Quincy  Adams  because  he  jDresented  a 
petition  for  the  dissolution  of  the  Union.  The  peti- 
tioner had  the  right  to  make  the  request.  And  now  if 
the  cotton  States  consider  the  value  of  the  Union  debata- 
ble, we  maintain  their  perfect  right  to  discuss  it.  Nay, 
we  hold,  with  Jefferson,  to  the  inalienable  right  of  com- 
munities to  alter  or  abolish  forms  of  government  that 
have  become  oppressive  or  injurious ;  and  if  the  cotton 
States  shall  decide  that  they  can  do  better  out  of  the 
Union  than  in  it,  we  insist  on  letting  them  go  in  peace. 
The  right  to  secede  may  be  a  revolutionary  right,  but 
it  exists  nevertheless,  and  we  do  not  see  how  one  party 
can  have  a  right  to  do  what  another  party  has  a  right 
to  prevent;  and  whenever  a  considerable  section  of  our 
Union  shall  deliberately  resolve  to  go  out,  we  shall 
resist  all  coercive  measures  designed  to  keep  it  in.  We 
hope  never  to  live  in  a  republic  where  one  section  is 
pinned  to  the  residue  by  bayonets. 

"  But  while  we  thus  uphold  the  practical  liberty,  if  not 
the  abstract  right  of  secession,  we  must  insist  that  the  step 
be  taken,  if  it  ever  shall  be  taken,  with  the  deliberation 
and  gravity  befitting  so  momentous  an  issue.  Let  them 
reflect  deliberately  and  then  vote ;  and  let  the  act  of  seccs- 


YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE.  281 

sion  be  the  echo  of  an  unmistakable  popular  fiat.  A 
judgment  thus  rendered — a  demand  for  separation  so 
backed — would  be  either  acquiesced  in  without  the  effu- 
sion of  blood,  or  those  who  rushed  upon  carnage  to  defy 
and  defeat  it  would  place  themselves  clearly  in  the 
wrong." 

The  world  knows  the  history  of  Horace  Greeley.  He 
was  the  ablest  editor  this  country  has  ever  produced.  He 
was  a  Republican  of  the  deepest  dye — an  abolitionist  of 
the  most  uncompromising  order,  and  a  northern  man 
without  one  drop  of  southern  blood. 

At  the  time  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected,  thirteen  of  the 
Northern  States — to  wit,  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Rhode 
Island,  Massachusetts,  Vermont,  Connecticut,  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Wisconsin,  Michigan,  Iowa, 
and  Illinois — had  by  their  legislatures  openly,  intention- 
ally, and  avowedly,  in  utter  disregard  of  their  admitted 
constitutional  obligations,  passed  ''Anti-fugitive  Slave 
Laws,"  and  thus  designedly  violated  their  solemn  cove- 
nant, which  provided  for  the  rendition  of  fugitives  from 
service. 

Again,  another  chapter  :  On  Sunday  evening,  October 
the  17th,  1859,  John  Brown,  of  Kansas,  at  the  head  of  a 
company  of  armed  men,  invaded  Virginia,  and  by  force 
captured  the  city  of  Harper's  Ferry,  and  there  took  pos- 
session of  the  National  Armory,  in  which  were  stored  two 
hundred  thousand  stand  of  small  arms.  He  also  captured 
and  imprisoned  quite  a  number  of  citizens,  most  of  the 
guard  stationed  to  protect  the  public  property,  and  killed 
several  persons.  The  confessed  design  of  this  bold  insur- 
rection was  to  ''strike  at  all  hazards  for  universal  free- 
dom." Brown  was  overpowered  and  captured.  In  his 
pocket  was  found  a  draft  of  what  Jie  had  styled  "A  Pro- 
visional Constitution  and  Ordinances  for  the  people  of  the 
United  States."  This  document,  ^Ir.  Greeley  says  in  his 
American  Conflict,  *'  had  been  adopted  at  a  secret  convene 


282  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

tion  called  by  Brown  to  meet  at  a  negro  church  at  Chat- 
ham, Canada,  May  8th,  1859.  This  constitution,  as 
given  by  Mr.  Greeley,  among  other  things  provided: 
"That  whereas  slavery,  as  it  now  exists  in  the  United 
States,  is  none  other  than  the  most  barbarous,  unprovoked, 
and  unjustifiable  war  of  one  portion  of  its  citizens  against 
another  portion ;  therefore  we,  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  and  the  oppressed  people,  do  ordain  and  establish 
for  ourselves  the  following  provisional  constitution  ": 

Art.  1.  All  persons  of  mature  age  who  shall  agree  to 
sustain  and  enforce  this  constitution  shall  be  held  to  be 
fully  entitled  to  protection  under  the  same. 

Art.  28.  All  captured  or  confiscated  property,  and  all 
property  the  product  of  the  labor  of  those  belonging  to 
this  organization,  and  of  their  families,  shall  be  held  as 
the  property  of  the  whole,  equally,  without  distinction, 
and  may  be  used  for  the  common  benefit,  or  disposed  of 
for  the  same  object. 

Art.  29.  All  money,  plate,  watches,  or  jewelry  captured 
by  honorable  warfare,  or  confiscated,  belonging  to  the 
enemy,  shall  be  held  sacred,  to  constitute  a  liberal  safety 
or  intelligence  fund. 

Art.  33.  All  persons  who  shall  come  forward  and  de- 
liver up  slaves  voluntarily  and  shall  have  their  names 
registered  on  the  books  of  this  organization  shall  be  enti- 
tled to  protection. 

Art.  34.  All  non-slaveholders  who  shall  remain  abso- 
lutely neutral  shall  be  respected,  so  far  as  circumstances 
may  admit,  but  shall  not  be  entitled  to  any  protection. 

Art.  35.  The  needless  waste  of  property  shall  not  be 
tolerated. 

Art.  3G.  The  entire  personal  and  real  property  of  all  per- 
sons known  to  be  acting  directly  or  indirectly  with  the  ene- 
my, or  found  wilfully  holding  slaves,  shall  be  confiscated. 

Art,  46.  These  articles  are  not  intended  to  overthrow 
the  government,  but  to  amend  and  repeal. 


YANKEE    DOODLE^DIXIE.  283 

The  missing  articles  Mr.  Greeley  does  not  give,  and  this 
narrator  has  never  seen  them.  Just  what  all  this  meant 
the  reader  must  judge  for  himself.  Just  what  John 
Brown  would  have  done,  had  he  succeeded,  none  can  tell. 
By  what  train  of  thought  he  brought  himself  to  believe 
that  he  was  fulfilling  a  duty,  some  other  than  this  writer 
must  give  the  information.  From  what  source  the  light 
came,  which  showed  him  that  his  scheme  was  just,  hu- 
mane, and  Christian  work,  would  be  ethics  too  deep  for 
this  poor  pen  to  attempt.  The  facts  are  historical ;  the 
issue  was  desperate;  the  end  to  him  a  dreadful  doom,  and 
the  result  to  the  country  distressing  and  disastrous. 

The  Southern  mind  was  inflamed.  The  Southern 
heart  was  fired.  The  Southern  hearth  and  the  Southern 
home  had  been  endangered.  What  did  the  North  do  ? 
Did  it  rise  up  in  hot  indignation  and  condemn  the  wicked, 
inhuman  scheme?  No — no — no ;  but  on  the  contrary  the 
whole  North  was  aglow  with  sympathy  for  the  unfortu- 
nate and  the  unsuccessful  issue.  The  pulpit  and  the  ros- 
trum rung  with  elegant  panegyrics,  and  the  press  teemed 
with  fiery  editorials,  breathing  condolence  for  Brown  and 
threats  against  the  hand  that  would  dare  hurt  a  hair  of 
his  head.  Rescue  meetings  were  called,  and  rescue  meas- 
ures were  discussed,  and  rescue  money  raised.  John 
Brown  was  tried  and  hung.  He  paid  the  penalty  of  his 
folly  with  the  forfeit  of  his  life,  but  beyond  the  Potomac 
he  is  still  canonized  as  a  saint  and  still  lives  in  marble  as 
a  martyr.  He  failed,  but  the  song  in  swelling  chorus 
goes  up  and  the  world  is  told  that  "  John  Brown's  body 
lies  mouldering  in  the  grave,  but  his  soul  goes  march- 
ing on." 

Could  the  South  love  the  people  who  loved  John 
Brown?  Could  the  South  trust  the  people  who  aided 
John  Brown  ?  Could  the  South  be  safe  with  the  people 
who  sympathized  with  John  Brown?  Ah  I  no.  The 
North  and  the  South  were  estranged,  because  of  the  dif- 


284  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

ferent  lights  in  which  his  motives  were  viewed.  Hearts 
that  had  been  warm  with  love  grew  cold  for  the  lack  of 
mutual  trust,  and  hands  that  had  clasped  in  friendly  re- 
gard touched  not  again  in  cordial  greeting. 

John  Brown  may  not  have  realized  what  blood  and 
fire,  and  pain  and  sorrow,  and  sin  and  death,  lay  between 
him  and  the  accomplishment  of  his  Utopian  Empire  of 
Universal  Emancipation.  He  may  have  been  conscientious 
in  the  belief  that  the  end  would  justify  the  means.  If  so, 
let  us  not  impeach  his  conscience,  but  rather  let  us  drop 
the  curtain  of  charity  and  say  he  knew  not  what  he  did. 
He  who  reads  his  history  must  do  so  with  mingled  feel- 
ings of  pity  and  indignation.  Pity  for  his  delusion — in- 
dignation for  the  terrible  crime  he  coolly  contemplated. 
In  all  that  he  did  he  seems  to  have  relied  upon  the  con- 
viction that  he  was  discharging  a  duty,  and  this  seems  to 
have  been  his  comfort  and  support  in  the  darkest  hour  of 
his  life.  For  when  his  end  was  near  at  hand  and  death 
had  almost  overtaken  him  he  said,  writing  his  last  letter: 

"I  cannot  remember  a  night  so  dark  as  to  have  hindered 
the  coming  day,  nor  a  storm  so  furious  or  dreadful  as  to 
have  prevented  the  return  of  warm  sunshine  and  a  cloud- 
less sky." 

God  is  just.  He  alone  sees  and  J^nows  tne  human 
heart.  He  will  judge  at  that  judgment  where  eternal 
justice  will  be  done. 

Virginia  could  forgive  and  forget  John  Brown,  but  Vir- 
ginia can  never  forgive  nor  forget  the  sympathy  that  was 
expressed  for  his  failure.  He  was  the  poor,  blind  victim 
of  demented  fanaticism.  But  his  sympathizers  up  North, 
who  cheered  his  efforts  and  indorsed  his  scheme,  have  no 
cloak  for  their  sins.  Looking  back  from  the  present 
standpoint,  the  world  will  scarce  believe  that  the  men 
who  preached  Christ,  turned  from  His  death  and  suffer- 
ing to  eulogize  John  Brown ;  or  that  the  men  who  met  to 
celebrate  the  anniversaries  of  the  battles  which  Washing- 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 


285 


ton  fought  could  canonize  John  Brown  for  a  saint.    Well 
might  the  world  exclaim,  01  temporal     Of  mores! 

But  let  us  on  with  our  story.  The  issue  between  the 
North  and  the  South  is  fast  rushing  to  a  crisis;  the  winds 
are  blowing ;  the  storm  is  coming ;  the  waters  will  soon 
fall  and  the  streams  will  soon  widen,  but  the  rage  of  the 
storm  will  not  surpass  the  passions  of  men,  and  "  Man's 
inhumanity  to  man  will  make  countless  millions 
mourn." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

IT  was  a  fearful  risk  that  old  Uncle  Ben  took  when 
he  plunged  into  the  vortex  of  that  mad,  surging,  whirl- 
ing water.  But  his  was  a  noble  heart,  inspired  by  a  no- 
ble courage ;  and  the  daring  was  a  noble  deed — and  nobly 
it  was  done.  On  that  dusky  brow  let  us  lay  the  chap- 
let  of  honor,  and  crown  that  head  with  a  diadem  of 
never-fading  laurels.  The  old  Roman  custom  of  crown- 
ing with  a  wreath  the  citizen  who  had  saved  a  human 
life  was  no  less  beautiful  than  inspiring;  and  it  was  a 
proud  heart  Ihat  beat  beneath  a  head  th  us  crowned.  The 
armed  warrior;  the  brave  soldier;  the  noble  Senator;  the 
virtuous  matron ;  the  chaste  beauty,  and  the  onodest 
maiden  bowed  low  in  honor  to  that  crown  whenever  it 
passed,  and  the  kings  and  the  emperors  stood  uncovered 
in  its  presence.  The  glory  of  Rome  was  due  to  the  re- 
spect paid  to  valor,  and  accorded  to  noble  deeds.  That 
land  is  safe  that  loves  its  heroes.  That  hero  is  truly  great 
who  inspires  the  citizen  and  soldier  alike  with  love  for 
noble,  daring,  brilliant  achievments,  and  high  moral 
virtue.  Cowards  could  fight  where  the  banner  of  "Wash- 
ington waved,  and  stripling  youths  sprang  to  manhood 
amid  the  blaze  and  flash  of  Harry  Lee's  sword. 

It  was  also  a  custom  among  the  Romans  that  if  a  slave 
saved  the  life  of  a  Roman  citizen  the  slave  at  once  was 
manumitted  and  his  freedom  given  as  a  fitting  reward; 
for  it  was  held  that  none  who  wore  a  crown  should  bear 
the  chains  of  bondage. 

"When  Charles  was  dragged  ashore  he  had  not  lost  all 
consciousness,  but  he  was  fearfully  weak  and  exhausted, 
and  was  unnble  to  speak  or  stand.  I.Ir.  Dodge  was  nearer 
(286) 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  287 

death ;  he  was  unconscious,  but  was  still  breathing.  Uncle 
Ben  turned  him  over  on  his  face,  placed  a  piece  of  wood 
under  his  stomach,  and  then  pressed  on  his  back  to  force 
the  water  out  of  his  mouth,  and  continued  to  use  other 
means  which  he  had  been  told  would  do  good  in  cases 
of  the  kind  to  help  the  partially  drowned,  such  as  rubbing, 
slapping,  and  the  like. 

Charles  saw  what  was  being  done,  and  nodded  his  ap- 
proval, but  he  himself  could  do  nothing,  By  this  time 
Helen  had  revived  from  her  swoon,  and  taking  in  the  sit- 
uation at  a  glance,  though  suffering  from  the  nervous 
shock  which  she  had  received,  mounted  her  horse  and 
sped  away  like  an  arrow  in  search  of  medical  aid.  She 
had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  Dr.  Hall  on  the  road,  who 
hastened  to  the  relief  of  the  sufferers,  while  Helen  went 
further  to  secure  other  assistance.  In  due  time  Mr. 
Dodge  was  taken  to  the  Grove,  that  being  the  nearest 
house.  Charles  having  sufficiently  recovered  to  enable 
him  to  ride.  Dr.  Hall  assured  them  that  there  was  no 
real  danger,  and  that  in  a  few  days  Mr.  Dodge  would 
be  himself  again.  By  morning  Charles  was  perfectly  re- 
covered, but  Mr.  Dodge  continued  to  keep  his  bed.  He 
said  he  felt  weak  and  drowsy,  and  so  thought  sleep  would 
do  him  good.  In  a  few  days  he  was  up  and  walking 
about  and  said  he  felt  all  right  again,  but  there  was  a 
great  change  in  his  manner.  He  was  silent,  rather  ab- 
stracted, and  seemed  to  be  thinking  seriously,  but  not  on 
his  present  surroundings.  If  spoken  to,  he  would  smile 
and  say,  "  Beg  yourpardon  ;  I  was  listening  to  the  conver- 
sation ;"  but  would  not  seem  to  recollect  what  had  been 
said.  His  seriousness  was  of  course  attributed  to  the  nar- 
row escape  which  he  had  made.  But  when  the  subject 
was  alluded  to  it  seemed  to  displease  him,  and  he  would 
quickly  turn  the  subject  and  talk  of  something  else. 

He  thanked  Charles  for  the  preservation  of  his  life ;  he 
said  it  was  a  brave  and  heroic  deed,  and  that  he  could 


288  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

never  forget  the  friendship  that  inspired  such  a  noble 
spirit.  But  his  thanks  even  to  Charles  were  formal,  for 
he  looked  at  the  ground  and  made  marks  with  a  stick 
while  he  spoke.  Not  once  did  lie  look  Charles  in  the 
face;  had  he  done  so,  he  would  have  seen  eyes  beam- 
ing with  manly  love  and  wet  from  the  touch  of  tender- 
ness, and  a  face  expressive  of  joy  at  the  thought  that  a 
friend  in  danger  had  been  saved. 

Noble  minds  are  ever  full  of  charity  ;  ever  ready  to  at- 
tribute the  actions  of  others  to  just  such  motives  as  in- 
spire their  own  souls.  They  look  up  believing  in  the 
purity  of  the  heart  and  the  true  nobility  of  the  spirit. 
They  never  search  the  cess-pools  of  depravity  for  the  mo- 
tive of  action,  and  so  Charles  never  suspected  the  real 
cause  of  William  Dodge's  embarrassment.  How  could  he 
suspect  the  dark  thoughts  that  had  flitted  through  the 
mind  of  William  Dodge  just  before  Charles  had  come 
upon  him  so  unexpectedly  the  morning  of  the  mishap? 
Thoughts  that  touched  the  very  life  of  the  noble  spirit 
that  friendship  had  inspired  to  dare  death  itself  in  order 
to  save  one  that  was  loved. 

Charles  Reed  did  not  know — could  not  know — but 
William  Dodge  knew ;  and,  strange  to  say,  for  once  in  hia 
life,  for  a  short  time,  remorse  had  overtaken  liim.  To 
the  wicked  soul  death  is  a  terrible  thing,  and  when  it 
comes  near  and  grins  in  the  face  of  its  depraved  victim, 
the  horrors  of  hell  rise  up  and  mock  the  cowering  heart. 

It  is  said  the  drowning  man,  before  consciousness 
passes  from  him,  sees  the  whole  of  his  past  life  flash  like 
a  panoramic  picture  on  the  canvas  of  memory.  Every 
dark  deed  ;  every  unholy  tliought ;  every  wicked  action; 
every  impure  emotion  starts  up  from  the  wasto  places  of 
an  ill-spent  life  and  presents  itself  in  all  its  horror  and  in 
all  its  deformity. 

William  Dodge,  tossed  and  rolled  and  beaten  and  bruipcd 
in  that  hissing  water,  felt  the  fear  of  death,  and  saw  the 


VANKEfi   DOODLE   DIXIE.  289 

dreadful  picture  of  a  damned  soul ;  and  the  freezing  ago- 
nies of  tortures  seized  upon  bis  cowardly  heart  and  steeped 
him  in  the  terrible  filth  of  horror.  For  the  first  time  in 
his  life  he  saw  himself  as  he  was,  and  shuddered  at  his 
own  deformity. 

There  was  that  in  the  character  of  Charles  Reed  which 
made  it  a  pleasure  to  serve  one  he  loved,  and  the  higher 
the  service  the  sweeter  the  pleasure.  Charles  Reed  was 
brave;  from  his  boyhood  he  had  been  insensible  to  fear. 
His  courage  was  of  the  moral  kind  ;  not  the  show  of  the 
braggart.  He  never  wilfully  sought  danger, but  he  never 
turned  aside  when  duty  called.  Had  he  seen  one  he 
knew  to  be  his  bitterest  enemy — his  most  inveterate  foe — 
struggling  in  the  waves,  he  would  have  hated  his  own 
name  had  he  not  gone  to  the  rescue;  but  wdien  he  saw 
there  in  the  rushing  water  the  friend  he  loved  almost  as 
he  would  a  brother,  the  knowledge  of  almost  certain  death 
could  not  have  held  him  back.  And  now  that  he  had 
saved  the  life  of  the  one  he  so  sincerely  loved,  this  very 
circumstance  seemed  to  add  tenderness  to  his  affection. 

The  human  heart  is  so  constituted  it  never  seems  to 
fully  realize  the  strength  of  its  attachments  until  by  some 
misfortune  we  lose  or  come  near  losing  the  object  of  our 
affections.  Even  a  mother  is  but  a  mother  until  she  is 
dead  and  gone.  Then  she  is  "  My  own  sweet  angel  mo- 
ther"—" My  life"— "My  hope  "— "  My  all."  Oh  !  if  the 
sweet  spirit  of  my  own  sainted  mother  could  come  back 
to  me  j-ust  for  one  hour.  If  her  hand  could  only,  but  for 
one  moment,  touch  this  aching  brow  of  mine,  and  the 
music  of  her  loving  voice  just  once  more  sound  in  my 
ears,  I  would,  be  stronger.  I  could  be  braver ;  I  should 
be  better.  Oh  !  my  mother!  my  mother!  my  good, kind, 
loving  mother!  I  never  knew  what  it  waste  love  thee 
fully  until  the  angels  came  down  and  claimed  thy  spirit — 
kindred  of  their  own. 
19 


290  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE, 

But  although  the  mishap  had  made  Mr.  Dodge  nearer 
and  dearer  to  Charles  Reed,  he  could  not  help  feeling, 
though  he  could  not  tell  why,  that  it  was  not  so  with 
AVilHam  Dodge.  Why  was  this?  Why  that  abstracted 
look?  Why  that  averted  face?  Why  that  absent-minded 
air?  Why  that  lowering  of  the  eye,  if  perchance  Mr. 
Dodge  caught  the  enquiring  gaze?  Charles  saw  and 
could  but  notice  all  this,  but  no  answer  could  he  return 
that  seemed  to  him  all  sufficient.  The  secret  was  locked 
in  the  heart  of  ^Ir.  Dodge.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  agony 
of  fear;  in  tlie  cowering  spirit  brought  close  to  the  pres- 
ence of  deatli.  In  the  tormenting  flames  seen  with  the 
eye  of  fear — the  immortal  soul  had  realized  its  immor- 
tality and  acknowledged  its  accountability.  Years  of 
folly;  days  of  debauchery;  hours  of  corruption;  mo- 
ments of  baseness  and  deeds  of  blackness  were  crowded 
into  that  one  moment  of  time  and  pictured  on  the  canvas 
of  memory.  And  the  horrors  of  that  vision  crushed  his 
cowardly  soul  and  bent  him  on  the  rack  of  torture.  For 
the  first  time  iu  his  life  his  heart  had  cried  out,  "Oh! 
God  I  have  mercy  on  me!"  Till  that  moment  he  had  re- 
cognized no  dependence;  acknowledged  no  duty;  con- 
fessed no  sins ;  worshiped  no  God ;  asked  no  salvation, 
lie  felt  rather  a  pride  in  his  disbelief,  and  smiled  with 
self-complacency  at  the  thought  of  his  infidelity ;  but  in 
that  moment  of  agonizing  fear,  his  soul  gave  the  lie  to  his 
whole  life,  and  the  lips  and  tongue,  which  he  had 
schooled  to  speak  in  the  language  of  blasphemy,  forgot 
all  the  dark  lessons  of  the  skeptical  life,  and  in  terror 
cried  out,  "  Oh  !  God !  have  mercy  on  me!  " 

William  Dodge  still  remembered  that  agony  ;  he  still 
remembered  that  anguish  of  soul;  he  still  remembered 
that  cry.  His  mind  was  trembling  as  it  were  upon  a 
pivot — balanced  in  debate.  Goodand  virtue  for  once  stood 
without  knocking  at  the  door  of  his  heart,  there  seeking 
for  admission  and  claiming  recognition.     The  spirit  of 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  291 

good  was  striving  with  the  demon  of  darkness ;  and  well 
would  it  have  been  with  William  Dodge  had  the  victory 
been  with  the  right.  But  alas !  the  frailty  of  man.  Alas  I 
his  passion  and  his  pride.  And,  oh!  alas!  his  vain,  cor- 
rupted, selfish  heart;  his  fond  delusive  dream  of  fleeting 
power.  He  boasts  his  pride,  but  withers  like  a  flower ;  he 
feels  his  strength,  but  crumples  like  aburning  scroll.  Tlie 
day  of  his  destiny  is  transient  as  the  meteor's  flash  ;  the 
glory  of  his  reign  unstable  as  the  joy  of  a  floating  bubble ; 
he  builds  his  hopes  high  on  the  castles  in  the  air.  They 
fall  as  the  templefell  and  crush  the  mighty  amid  its  ruins. 

William  Dodge  believed  in  the  genius  of  his  guiding 
star;  he  soared  high  amid  the  realms  of  speculative 
thought  and  soothed  his  soul  with  reflections  on  self- 
appointed  missions.  Might  was  right  with  him  ;  power 
the  principle  of  justice;  success  the  reward  of  virtue  ;  and 
cunning  the  matchless  means  of  measureless  intellec- 
tuality. 

He  had  cowered  before  the  eye  of  old  Ben;  for  the 
piercing  gaze  of  that  steady  eye  had,  like  poisoned  darts, 
quivered  in  his  heart.  He  now  cowered  beneath  the  lash 
of  a  guilty  conscience,  and  while  he  cowered  he  cursed 
the  baseness  of  his  cowardly  cowardice.  He  felt  the  hu- 
miliation to  be  more  than  he  could  stand,  so  in  secret  he 
resolved  to  quit  the  Grove  and  the  Abbey,  and  to  pur- 
sue his  purpose  in  more  shaded  paths.  With  him  the 
battle  between  good  and  evil  was  short.  Right  and  wrong 
had  met  and  measured  lances,  and  for  the-time  William 
Dodge  was  the  victor.  Now  bitterness  was  added  to  his 
thirst  for  revenge,  and  the  heartless,  selfish  man  was 
turned  to  a  fiend  incarnate.  He  soon  took  occasion  to 
tell  Charles  of  his  proposed  departure.  Business  of  the 
most  urgent  nature  was  given-as  the  excuse. 

Charles  then  for  the  first  time  spoke  of  his  approach- 
ing marriage,  and  asked  Mr.  Dodge  if  it  was  not  possible 
for  him  to  remain ;  but  Dodge  expressed  many  regrets, 


292  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

and  said  he  would  be  obliged  to  go.  Charles  then 
insisted  on  a  promise  that  he  would  return  and  be  one 
of  his  attendants,  but  this  honor  Mr.  Dodge  also  declined, 
saying  it  would  be  utterly  imiDOSsible  for  him  to  come  to 
Virginia  at  that  time.  The  most  that  he  could  promise 
was  that  he  would  try  and  come  again  in  the  spring. 
The  first  of  the  coming  w^eek  was  named  for  the  time  of 
his  departure.  He  said  he  would  be  compelled  to  leave 
Tuesday  morning.     It  was  now  Saturday  afternoon. 

After  this  announcement  was  made  and  became  under- 
stood Mr.  Dodge  became  more  like  himself  again.  He 
was  cheerful  almost  to  hilarity,  except  in  the  presence  of 
Colonel  Moore;  there  he  still  seemed  serious  and  reflec- 
tive. This,  as  no  doubt  Mr.  Dodge  intended,  rather 
strengthened  the  good  old  man's  desire  to  be  as  much 
with  Mr.  Dodge  as  possible. 

It  was  well  known  that  Colonel  Moore  had  some  time 
previous  made  his  wdll,  more  for  form's  sake  though 
than  otherwise,  for,  of  course,  all  that  he  had  would 
descend  to  his  only  child,  and  she  could  be  trusted  to 
take  care  of  his  faithful  servants.  But  the  day  that  Mr. 
Dodge  left,  it  became  known  that  some  changes  had  been 
made  in  the  will,  and  that  Mr.  Dodge  was  in  some  way 
named  in  the  instrument;  but  how  and  to  what  purpose, 
time  alone  must  reveal. 


chapteh  XXVI. 

UNCLE  BEN  had  never  given  Mr.  Dodge  an  oppor- 
tunity to  thank  him  for  the  part  he  had  taken  in  the 
preservation  of  his  life,  nor  had  Mr.  Dodge  specially 
sought  any  occasion  to  perform  that  duty.  The  old  man 
did  not  care  to  be  thanked  by  Mr.  Dodge.  He  felt  that 
there  were  no  thanks  due  him.  He  had  not  thought  of 
Mr.  Dodge  at  the  time  when  he  made  the  heroic  plunge 
into  the  seething  water.  His  whole  soul  was  absorbed 
in  the  one  desire  to  save  Charles,  and  the  old  man  knew 
that  the  salvation  of  Mr.  Dodge  was  incidentally  due  to 
the  efforts  made  to  save  that  one  so  dearly  loved.  True, 
the  old  man  had  done  all  that  he  could  for  Mr.  Dodge 
after  he  was  dragged  ashore,  but  this  was  only  the  prompt- 
ings of  humanity.  Uncle  Ben  could  not  have  stood  by  and 
seen  Mr.  Dodge  drown  under  ordinary  circumstances,  but 
it  would  have  been  expecting  too  much  of  the  old  negro  to 
have  supposed  that  he  would  have  taken  the  terrible  risk 
he  did  had  it  not  been  in  behalf  of  one  whom  he  loved 
far  more  than  he  loved  William  Dodge.  Therefore,  the 
honest  old  man  was  glad  when  Mr.  Dodge  left,  and 
especially  glad  that  no  word  of  thanks  had  been  expressed. 
Mr.  Dodge  knew  that  his  life  had  been  preserved  by 
these  two  persons,  whom  he  now  hated  more  than  he 
hated  all  else  besides.  He  felt  it  keenly,  and  he  resolved 
in  the  bitterness  of  his  heart  to  pay  the  debt,  but  not 
in  the  way  common  gratitude  would  have  dictated.  He 
thought  to  himself  that  in  due  time  he  would  discharge 
this  obligation  and  lift  this  load  from  his  mind. 

]\Ir.  Dodge  had  so  brooded  over  his  thirst  for  revenge 
on  Charles  Reed  that  his  heart  was  totally  dead  to  every 

(293) 


201  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

feeling  of  gratitude,  and  as  for  old  Ben,  he  actually 
believed  the  old  negro  was  sorry  that  he  was  not  drowned. 

But  how  different  was  the  feeling  between  Charles  and 
Uncle  Ben.  They  met  the  next  day  and  Charles  took 
both  of  the  hands  of  the  old  negro  in  his  and  tried  to 
thank  him,  but  if  words  were  necessary,  then  indeed  the 
thanking  was  a  failure.  They  both  tried  to  speak,  but 
there  was  something  in  their  throats  which  choked  back 
the  words  and  would  not  let  them  out.  They  looked  at 
each  other,  but  that,  too,  was  a  failure ;  for  the  big  tears 
would  rush  to  their  eyes  and  blind  them,  but  each  knew 
that  their  hearts  responded.  The  old  man  could  not 
stand  it  long;  he  at  last  put  his  arm  around  Charles  and 
did  make  out  to  say,  ''God  bless  you.  Mars  Charles  ;  God 
bless  you!    I  am  happier  than  I  ever  was  before." 

Charles  pressed  the  hand  he  held,  and  the  old  man 
moved  away. 

They  met  again  the  next  day,  and  by  this  time  they 
were  able  to  talk.  We  will  leave  the  first  words  of  that 
interview  unrecorded.  There  are  feelings  of  the  heart  which 
no  words  can  portray — emotions  that  roll  over  the  soul 
like  waves  over  the  sea,  beautiful  in  their  grandeur,  and 
glorious  in  their  sublimit3\  If  the  hearts  of  two  men  ever 
met  and  two  spirits  ever  mingled  and  two  minds  were 
ever  filled  with  mutual  admiration,  the  picture  is  now 
before  you.  Look  upon  it,  kind  reader,and  sympathize  with 
it  if  you  can.  Behold  the  love  and  admiration  of  the  old 
negro  for  his  young  master — the  gratitude  and  veneration 
of  the  3^oung  Southerner  for  his  old  black  friend.  No 
king  ever  boasted  a  more  loyal  subject,  no  prince  ever 
claimed  a  more  loving  heart,  no  potentate  ever  received 
more  willing  service,  than  you  may  witness  there.  The 
heart  of  the  old  negro  was  filled  with  love  and  overflow- 
ing with  kindness,  while  Charles  Reed  felt,  in  the  very 
secret  chambers  of  his  soul,  veneration  and  reverence  for 
that  grand  old  man,  gratitude  for  that  love,  admiration 
for  that  heroic  spirit. 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  295 

The  old  man  saw  the  gratitude,  the  admiration,  the 
veneration  as  a  bright  light  shining  out  through  the 
beaming  eyes  of  his  young  master,  and  he  was  happy; 
his  reward  was  perfect,  and  its  enjoyment  sweet.  It  was 
to  him  the  crowning  glory  of  his  life;  his  cup  of  joy  was 
full  to  the  brim  and  running  over. 

Charles  saw  the  old  man's  happiness,  saw  the  joy  and 
the  gladness,  but  still  he  was  not  satisfied.  There  was  in  his 
heart  a  deep  yearning  to  do  something  for  the  good  old 
man  that  would  be  worthy  of  the  name,  but  what  could 
he  do  commensurate  with  the  heroism  of  that  faithful  old 
servant?  Indeed,  was  there  any  reward  that  he  could  bestow 
equal  to  the  merit  displayed?  He  had  an  idea  in  his 
mind,  it  is  true,  and  as  to  this  had  consulted  with  Colo- 
nel Moore,  but  the  good  old  Colonel  had  given  him  but 
little  comfort ;  he  had  only  patted  Charles  on  the  head 
and  said,  "  Do  as  you  like,  my  dear  boy,  but  you  don't 
know  Ben  as  I  know  him.  He  and  I  were  boys  together; 
we  were  playmates  in  our  childhood ;  he  has  ever  been 
more  like  a  companion  than  a  servant  to  me.  I  have 
often  thought  of  what  you  propose,  not  only  in  regard  to 
him,  but  in  regard  to  all  the  rest  of  my  servants,  and  I 
would  not  hesitate  one  moment,  if  I  only  believed  that  it 
would  be  conducive  to  their  happiness ;  but  I  have  most 
serious  doubts  on  the  subject,  and  especially  as  to  Ben.  I 
think  he  is  the  happiest  human  being  that  I  know.  He 
is  sensible  far  beyond  the  average  of  his  race.  He  fully 
appreciates  his  circumstances  and  his  condition,  but  if  ever 
the  so-called  chain  of  servitude  has  had  for  him  one 
galling  link,  it  is  more  than  I  believe.  He  was  with  me 
last  winter  up  North  and  we  came  back  by  Washington. 
We  went  over  to  the  White  House  to  see  my  old  friend 
and  college  classmate,  President  James  Buchanan,  and  I 
do  believe  'Old  Buck,'  as  we  have  always  called  him,  was 
more  delighted  to  see  Ben  than  he  was  to  see  me.  Ah  I 
Charles,  such  a  time  as  we  did  have  that  night,  talking 


296  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

about  old  times  ;  Buchanan  made  me  a  visit  here  at  the 
Grove  and  spent  the  summer  with  me  the  year  we  left 
college.  We  spent  much  of  our  time  in  the  woods  hunt- 
ing, for  both  of  us  were  fond  of  the  sport.  The  aim  of 
Buchanan's  rifle  was  marvelous ;  he  was  a  splendid  shot, 
the  best  with  a  rifle  I  believe  I  ever  saw.  Ben  was  with 
us  for  the  most  of  the  time  and  seemed  to  enjoy  the 
'  happy  hits/  as  he  called  them.  He  argued  that  that  style 
of  shooting  did  not  hurt  the  squirrel,  for  he  would  say  a 
ball  right  through  the  head  was  death,  but  no  pain. 

"  Ben  rallied  the  President  on  being  an  old  bachelor 
and  told  him  he  ought  to  have  a  wife  to  take  care  of  his 
nice  big  house,  but  about  the  best  laugh  we  had  was 
when  Ben  looked  around  and  said  '  Mars  Jim,  where  are 
your  squiril  tails?  I  would  a  thought  since  you  is  got  no 
wife  you  would  have  some  tails  hangin'  around  jes  to 
show  the  folks  how  you  can  shoot ;  any  way  dey  would 
remind  you  of  old  times.  You  aint  forgot  dcm  hunts  we 
use  to  have  I  know.'  '  Oh  !  no,'  said  the  President,  laugh- 
ing, '  I  shall  never  forget  those  days.' 

"'I  reckon  not.  Mars  Jim,  nor  do  I  spose  you  is  forgot 
some  of  de  ladies  you  knowed  down  dar.' 

"  'That  I  havn't,  Ben,  you  are  right  there.' 

" '  Well,  you  is  got  to  be  President  now ;  we  did'nt  think 
you  was  gwine  to  do  so  much  for  yourself  I  spec'  had 
Miss  Mary  knowed  you  was  gwine  to  climb  so  high  she 
would  not  have  been  so  quick  to  ax  you  no.' 

"At  this  the  President  laughed  again  and  said,  'You 
are  too  hard  on  me,  Ben;  that  is  an  old  sore  and  you  must 
not  touch  it  too  roughly.' 

"]\Iary  was  your  mother,  Charles.  Perhaps  you  never 
heard  that  Buchanan  was  in  love  with  her  when  she  was 
a  girl,  but  she  loved  another,  and  he  has  never  loved 
again." 

The  allusion  to  his  mother  touched  Charles  tenderly. 
He  made  no  reply,  so  Colonel  ^Moore  went  on,  saying : 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  297 

"  But  to  return  to  the  subject,  Charles,  you  have  my 
permission  to  sj^eak  to  Ben,  and  it  will  only  afford  me 
real  pleasure  if  we  can  do  any  thing  that  will  add  to  his 
happiness." 

That  same  afternoon  as  Charles  came  out  to  go  home 
he  saw  Uncle  Ben  up  near  the  barn  polishing  up  the 
buckles  and  bit  of  Helen's  bridle.  Charles  turned  that 
way,  and  when  he  came  up  took  a  seat  in  the  door  near 
where  Ben  was  at  work.  The  old  man  was  glad  to  see 
him  and  manifested  it,  as  much  in  his  manner  as  in 
his  words.  Charles  began  the  conversation  and  by  de- 
grees led  up  to  the  subject  which  was  uppermost  in  his 
thoughts.  So  after  some  talk  in  regard  to  the  narrow 
escape  they  all  had  run,  the  deep  gratitude  which  he  felt, 
and  the  nobleness  of  the  act  of  rescue,  Charles  said: 
"  Uncle  Ben,  I  have  been  trying  to  think  of  some  way  in 
wliich  to  show  my  appreciation  of  your  love  for  me  and 
the  heroism  j^ou  displayed." 

"  You  is  done  done  dat,  Mars  Charles.  I  seed  what 
was  in  your  heart  plainer  den  I  seed  the  tears  in  your 
eyes,  and  'tis  de  heart  and  not  de  tongue  what  tells  a 
man's  feelings." 

"  I  don't  mean  that,  exactly.  Uncle  Ben.  I  know  you 
feel  assured  of  my  great  gratitude  as  well  as  my  appre- 
ciation of  j^our  noble  action,  but  I  want  to  do  something 
for  you  and  your  children  which  will  inspire  all  who 
come  of  3"our  race  with  noble  aims  and  manly  endeavors 
to  imitate  your  examjDle  should  occasion  present  itself — 
something,  Uncle  Ben,  to  which  your  descendants  to  the 
remotest  degree  may  refer  with  pride  and  be  inspired  with 
a  spirit  of  emulation.  The  world  loves  to  honor  a  noble 
deed,  Uncle  Ben,  and  the  good  and  true  among  men  love 
to  place  on  record  the  deeds  of  unselfish  heroism.  You 
saved  my  life  at  a  great  risk  of  your  own,  and  I  know  you 
did  it  because  you  love  me,  and  because  you  are  possessed 
of  a  manly  spirit  and  noble  courage.     I  love  you,  too,  in 


298  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

return,  Uncle  Ben,  because  you  have  shown  yourself  a 
grand  old  man,  possessed  of  true  nobility  of  nature  and 
endowed  with  those  characteristics  which  go  to  make  up 
heroes." 

"  You  says  too  much  for  me,  Mars  Charles,"  replied  the 
old  man,  slowly  and  thoughtfully,  his  voice  not  over 
steady.  "  I  was  not  thinking  of  what  the  world  would 
say  of  me  when  I  went  into  that  water  to  pull  you  out;  I 
was  thinking  of  you.  Mars  Charles — nobody  but  you.  I 
seed  you  in  the  water  struggling — it  was  hissing  and  foam- 
ing— you  was  drowning — I  loved  you — that  was  all." 

*'I  know  that,  Uncle  Ben;  but  the  motive  which 
prompted  you  makes  your  act  all  the  more  noble  and 
grand,  and  that  is  what  I  wish  to  reward.  The  unsel- 
fishness of  the  deed  is  its  real  worth.  You  know  you 
have  our  gratitude;  now  we  want  to  show  our  admira- 
tion. I  have  had  a  talk  with  Colonel  Moore,  and  he  leaves 
the  whole  matter  with  me." 

"  Very  well,  den.  Mars  Charles ;  Mars  Beverly  knows 
me,  and  he  knows  Idon't  want  any  reward  for  savin'  your 
life.  lie  is  always  trying  to  do  something  for  me.  He 
seems  to  know  better  what  is  good  for  me  than  I  knows 
for  m3^self.  But  for  dat  matter,  I  ain't  afraid  dat  either  of 
you  will  do  anything  to  hurt  old  Ben's  feelings." 

•'  Indeed  we  would  not,  Uncle  Bon ;  you  can  well  say 
that.  What  we  want  to  do  we  think  may  rather  serve  to 
elevate  3^ou  than  to  cast  you  down.  You  may  not  know, 
Uncle  Ben,  but  history  tells  us  that  Home  was  once  the 
most  splendid  empire  of  the  world.  Her  citizens  loved 
glory,  and  her  government  took  special  pains  to  reward 
the  noble  deeds  of  her  sons.  She  bestowed  high  honors 
upon  her  great  men,  whenever  they  achieved  any  noble 
deed,  and  her  people  built  monuments  for  thera  when 
they  died.  She  also  gave  crowns  to  those  who  were  suc- 
cessful at  the  games  in  which  they  had  shown  their 
bravery   and   heroism;  and  to  such  of  her  citizens  as 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  299 

had  saved  the  life  of  a  fellow-citizen  a  special  crown 
was  awarded.  Now,  Uncle  Ben,  you  know  that  there  were 
slaves  in  Rome  as  there  are  slaves  here  in  the  South,  and 
there  was  a  custom  there  to  the  effect  that  if  a  slave  saved 
the  life  of  a  Roman  citizen  the  slave  was  at  once  set  free. 
They  considered  that  one  who  had  saved  a  life  was  too 
noble  a  man  to  continue  in  bondage. 

"  You,  Uncle  Ben,  have  saved  the  life  of  an  American 
citizen — yes,  the  lives  of  two  citizens — and  so  are  enti- 
tled to  double  reward  if  that  could  be  given,  and  double 
freedom  if  that  were  possible.  You  have  a  wife  and  two 
children,  and  we  want  you  all  to  be  free  and  happy.  We 
mean  to  give  you,  besides,  a  nice  little  home  and  enough 
land  for  you  and  your  children  to  cultivate,  so  that  you 
may  make  a  good  living,  and  then  you  will  be  able  to 
come  and  go  just  as  you  please." 

"Sot  me  and  my  wife  and  children  free,  Mars  Charles  I 
and  make  us  a  lot  of  free  niggers  ?  " 

"  Oh  1  don't  put  it  that  way,  Uncle  Ben  I "  cried  Charles, 
quickly,  as  he  saw  that  he  had  inadvertently  wounded 
the  old  man's  feelings.  ''Oh!  don't  put  it  that  way.  You 
know  that  we  love  you,  Uncle  Ben,  and  would  only  be  too 
glad  to  do  any  thing  in  our  power  to  make  you  happy. 
But  come,  now,  don't  you  really  think  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  to  be  a  free  man — to  feel  that  neither  you  nor  your 
children  were  bound  to  any  one  in  servitude  ?  " 

"I  don't  know  'bout  dat.  Mars  Charles ;  I  is  thought  of 
dat  many  times,  but  I  is  got  my  doubts  on  dat  subject ; 
as  for  me,  I  don't  hardly  call  myself  a  slave ;  yet,  I  s'pose, 
dat  is  what  the  law  calls  it.  But  slavery  seems  a  hard 
name  to  call  do  service  what  I  render  ]\Iars  Beverly.  I 
don't  live  in  quite  sech  a  big  house  as  he  do,  but  mine  is 
jes'  as  warm  and  comfortable,  and  I  can't  recollect  that  I 
ebber  wanted  for  anything  to  eat  in  all  my  life;  and  as  for 
clothes,  I  is  got  more  dan  I  shall  ebber  wear  out.  Den, 
besides,  Mars^  Charles,  I  is  been  up  North  and  seed  de 


300  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

folks  up  dar,  and  I  knows  dat  dar  ain't  a  single  colored 
man  nor  woman  on  dis  whole  plantation  dat  has  to  work 
half  as  hard  as  de  poor  white  folks  up  North. 

"  You  see,  Mars  Charles,  I  was  up  North  wid  Mars 
Beverly  last  winter,  and  I  talked  wid  a  good  many  uv 
dem  Abolitioners.  Dey  seem  like  dey  want  to  talk 
long  wdd  me,  and  dey  ax  me  if  I  don't  feel  de  degration 
uv  slavery?  I  let  'em  talk  all  dey  want  to  talk;  den  I 
tell  'em  dat  is  sumthin'  dey  don't  understand  ;  I  tell  'em 
dat  de  colored  man  don't  feel  no  degration  because  he  is 
a  slave.  He  is  not  'shamed  because  he  is  got  to  serve  de 
white  folks.  Seems  like,  Mars  Charles,  de  colored  man  is 
better  off  as  he  is.  Dar  is  a  good  number  of  free  niggers 
about  here  now,  and  dar  ain't  a  single  one  dat  is  got  as 
much  as  I  is  got.  No,  de  trufe  is,  de  best  one  uv  dem 
ain't  got  as  much  as  de  sorriest  nigger  on  dis  place. 

"  Now  you  know  half  de  time  dey  is  got  nuffin'  to  eat, 
and  dey  nebber  is  got  anything  fit  to  wear,  and  dey  cliil- 
den  always  look  naked  and  hungr3\ 

"De  trufe  is.  Mars  Charles,  de  colored  man  is  got  to 
have  a  white  man  to  do  de  thinkin'  and  de  plannin',  and 
to  keep  de  lazy  nigget  at  work  so  to  make  him  do  his 
part.  You  see  in  slavery  all  de  colored  folks  have  to 
work.  What  dey  make  goes  to  feed  and  clothe  dem  all, 
and  so  dey  all  is  got  plenty.  But  sot  dem  free,  and  one 
half  w^ould  work  and  one  half  wouldn't  work,  and  dat 
half  what  didn't  work  would  be  all  de  time  either  starvin' 
or  stealin'.  Mars  Charles,  when  de  nature  uv  de  colored 
man  can  be  changed,  den  de  time  will  have  come  to  sot 
de  darkey  free.  No,  Mars  Charles,  I  know  you  mean  for 
good,  but  I  spec'  you  and  Mars  Beverly  hod  better  let 
things  be  as  dey  be.  Me  and  my  Polly  is  just  as  happy 
as  de  day  is  long;  w^e  don't  want  no  freedom  to  make  us 
happy.  We  knows  dar  ain't  one  single  pinching  want 
eber  gwine  to  git  so  much  as  one  foot  in  at  our  door  while 
ole  Mars  or  you  or  Miss  Helen  can  fight  him  away.    We 


YANKEE  DOODLE   DIXIE.  301 

is  satisfied,  and  we  radder  live  and  die  right  here  whar 
we  was  born  and  whar  de  mother  and  de  father  uv  both 
uv  us  is  burried  dan  to  go  away  in  freedom  and  perhaps 
to  want." 

The  old  man's  heart  was  full,  a  silent  tear  had  gathered 
in  his  eye,  and  as  he  ceased  speaking  trickled  down  his 
cheek.  Charles  took  the  old  man's  hand  in  his  and 
said: 

"  I  see  from  your  face.  Uncle  Ben,  that  you  have  spoken 
the  firm  conviction  of  your  heart.  You  mean  what  you 
say.  You  think  you  are  better  off  as  you  are,  and  what 
you  have  said  you  think  is  for  your  good  and  that  of 
your  wife  and  children.  It  shall  be  just  as  you  wish, 
and  you  shall  be  all  the  dearer  to  us  because  you  name 
the  relation  that  is  to  exist  in  the  future;  but  is  there  not 
one  wish  of  your  heart  that  I  can  gratify  ?  Is  there  not 
just  one  want  you  would  like  fulfilled — some  little  need 
or  some  little  pleasure  you  desire?  " 

Charles  stood  holding  the  old  man's  hand.  His  voice 
was  full  of  loving  kindness  as  he  spoke,  and  his  tone 
was  one  of  almost  earnest  supplication.  He  so  longed  to 
do  some  act  that  would  in  part  be  commensurate  to  the 
noble  service  the  good  old  man  had  rendered,  but  what 
else  to  propose  he  could  not  think. 

The  old  man  stood  silent  for  a  moment  looking  down 
at  the  ground.  His  heart  was  full  to  overflowing;  tears 
were  falling  over  his  cheeks.  He  could  not  command 
his  voice  for  a  moment  or  more,  but  finally  he  looked  up 
and  said: 

"  Yes,  Mars  Charles,  there  is  just  one  little  thing  I  wish, 
and  I  will  tell  it  to  you  because  I  believe  it  will  make 
you  happier.     Fix  up  the  grave  of  my  dear  old  mother." 

The  voice  of  the  old  man  trembled — it  failed  him ; 
emotions  welled  up  in  his  throat;  he  could  say  no  more. 
A  deep  fountain  was  moved  in  the  depths  of  two  souls — 
a  love  which  the  angels  might  bless  filled  two  hearts  at 


302 


YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 


the  mention  of  that  sweet  name — mother.  No  farther 
word  was  spoken,  but  the  big  tears  gathered  on  the 
cheeks  of  the  black  and  the  pale  face,  and  fell  in  heavy 
drops  upon  the  sand,  and  metliinks  that  music  as  sweet 
as  ever  rolled  through  the  courts  of  heaven  then  burst 
from  the  lips  of  two  angel  mothers  looking  down  from 
on  high. 


/      \ 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

EARLY  in  December  Governor  Letcher,  of  Virginia, 
issued  a  proclamation  calling  an  extra  session  of  the 
Legislature  to  meet  at  Richmond  to  take  into  considera- 
tion the  status  of  the  State  and  consider  the  exigencies  of 
the  times.  The  7th  day  of  January,  1861,  was  named 
as  the  day  for  the  Legislature  to  convene,  and  the  mem- 
bers for  the  most  part  were  prompt  in  their  attendance. 

The  Legislature,  when  it  met,  recognized  the  fact  that 
it  as  a  legislative  body  had  no  right  to  pass  an  ordinance 
of  secession,  or  in  any  way  change  the  organic  law  of 
the  State.  This  right  belonged  exclusively  to  the  people, 
and  could  be  exercised  by  the  people  only  in  a  Conven- 
tion duly  elected  and  representing  the  sovereignty  of  the 
people.  Therefore  the  Legislature  passed  a  bill,  January 
13th,  1861,  calling  a  Convention  and  appointing  a  day 
for  a  general  election,  and  also  naming  a  time  and  place 
for  the  Convention  to  meet.  The  canvass  in  this  elec- 
tion was  warm,  passionate,  and  ahnost  partisan.  The 
question  of  the  constitutional  right  of  secession  was  fully 
discussed,  as  was  also  the  expediency  of  withdrawing 
from  the  Union  under  existing  circumstances. 

The  candidates  put  forward  were  representative  men, 
fully  posted  in  the  constitutional  history  of  the  State  as 
well  as  the  principles  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  in 
every  sense  worthy  to  represent  Virginia  in  all  her  dig- 
nity and  in  all  her  power  and  wisdom.  The  candidates 
elected  knew  the  opinions  of  their  constituents  and  voiced 
the  sentiments  of  the  State. 

South  Carolina  had  seceded  on  the  20th  of  December, 
1860;  Mississippi  on  the  9th  of  January  following  ;  Ala- 
(303) 


304  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

bama  and  Florida  on  the  11th,  Georgia  on  the  20th, 
Louisiana  on  the  2Gth,  and  Texas  on  tlie  1st  day  of  Feb- 
ruary. On  the  9th  of  February  the  six  seceded  States, 
by  delegates  respectively  appointed  to  a  convention  held 
at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  organized  a  provisional  govern- 
ment under  the  name  and  style  of  the  Confederate  States 
of  America.  Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi,  was  chosen 
President,  and  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  of  Georgia,  Vice- 
President. 

The  prompt  and  almost  precipitous  manner  in  which 
the  six  seceded  States  had  passed  ordinances  of  secession, 
showed  that  they  at  least  were  fully  convinced  that  the 
time  for  discussion  had  passed,  and  that  the  time  for 
action  had  arrived.  The  unanimity  with  which  the  ordi- 
nances had  been  passed  was  remarkable,  and  showed 
bej^ond  all  cavil,  and  beyond  all  question,  the  sincerity 
of  those  who  claimed  that  they  were  exercising  a  consti- 
tutional right.  The  only  point  upon  which  there  was 
an}^  difference  of  opinion  in  this  connection  did  not  refer 
to  the  right  of  secession,  but  to  the  expediency  in  the  mat- 
ter of  time  and  manner ;  and  even  in  all  the  other  Southern 
States,  which  had  not  seceded,  there  was  no  respectable 
party  that  wavered  in  the  opinion  as  to  the  right  to 
secede  for  just  cause. 

The  doctrine  that  any  State  might  secede  in  case  of  a 
plain  and  palpable  violation  of  the  Federal  Constitution 
had  been  admitted  by  every  statesman  of  any  distinction 
from  the  foundation  of  the  government  to  the  election  of 
Lincoln.  And  in  several  of  the  Northern  States  resolu- 
tions -Getting  forth  the  right  had  been  put  to  a  vote 
and  passed  their  Legislatures;  Massachusetts  and  New 
Hampshire  conspicuously  in  the  lead.  During  the  can- 
vass in  Virginia  the  question  upon  which  the  people  were 
divided  was,  "Had  there  been  such  a  violation  of  the 
Constitution  as  would  make  it  expedient  for  Virginia  to 
exercise  this  right?"    And  even  among  those  who  thought 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  305 

that  there  had  been  such  a  violation  as  to  justify  seces- 
sion, there  was  a  division  of  opinion  as  to  the  time  and 
manner  of  exercising  the  right.  Some  thought  and  con- 
tended for  quick  work  and  immediate  secession,  claim- 
ing that  each  State  could  only  exercise  the  right,  sepa- 
rate and  independent,  of  all  the  rest.  All  admitted  the 
soundness  of  this  doctrine,  but  concluded  that  co-opera- 
tion would  be  the  better  mode  and  the  safest  means, 
while  still  many  more,  and  perhaps  a  large  majority, 
were  unwilling  to  secede  for  existing  causes,  but  desired 
to  wait  for  some  overt  act  on  the  part  of  the  incoming 
Administration.  They  believed  that  the  election  of  a 
purely  sectional  candidate  to  the  Presidency  upon  a  plat- 
form openly  hostile  to  the  institutions  of  the  South, 
coupled  with  the  many  inimical  expressions  of  Northern 
temper,  contempt,  ridicule  and  banter,  and  the  acknowl- 
edged violation  of  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  the  Consti- 
tution in  the  matter  of  the  anti-fugitive  slave  acts  of 
thirteen  of  the  Abolition  States,  and  the  unprecedented 
insurrection  of  John  Brown,  and  the  manner  in  which 
that  insurrection  was  regarded  by  the  North,  where 
Brown  was  lauded  as  a  martyr  and  canonized  as  a  saint, 
and  his  crime  of  murder,  treason  and  robbery  fully  justi- 
fied by  the  press,  the  pulpit  and  the  bar,  was  good  and 
sufficient  cause  for  secession,  and  would  justify  the  South 
in  the  act  of  secession  before  God  and  man  ;  but  still 
they  believed  that  the  better  policy  was  to  wait  for  some 
further  act  by  the  incoming  President,  or  the  Congress 
under  his  Administration,  vainly  hoping  against  hope 
that  the  delay  would  give  occasion  for  a  reaction  on  the 
part  of  the  iSForthern  mind  in  regard  to  violated  obliga- 
tions, and  thus  save  the  Union  and  prevent  the  horrors 
of  a  civil  war. 

Virginia  felt  the  wrongs  that  had  been  done  her.     She 
felt  the  indignities   that   had   been   heaped   upon   her. 
She  mourned  the  estrangement  of  her  sisters  and  grieved 
20 


306  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

because  their  love  and  confidence  had  been  turned  to 
blasphemy  and  to  bitterness.  Her  forbearance  was  the 
sublimity  of  patriotic  devotion ;  her  grief  was  the  grand- 
eur of  a  mother's  forbearance — King  David  weeping 
for  Absalom.  The  heart  of  this  grand  old  Common- 
wealth was  touched;  she  was  sick  nigh  unto  death 
because  of  unrequited  love.  Let  him  who  aspires  to 
place  in  marble  record  the  grandest  picture  in  the  book 
of  time,  represent  Virginia  standing  solitary  and  alone 
in  the  midst  of  this  crisis,  "A  xoyal  mother,  a  suppliant, 
and  a  queen,  forgetting  her  wrongs,  pleading  for  peace." 
The  history  of  the  men  that  followed  Robert  E.  Lee 
and  fought  with  Stonewall  Jackson,  will  tell  the  world 
that  in  that  swelling  tide  of  emotion,  in  that  deep,  plead- 
ing prayer  for  peace  there  was  not  so  much  as  one  rip- 
ple of  unmanly  fear.  Looking  back  let  the  question  be 
asked,  and  let  him  answer  who  can,  under  all  the  cir- 
cumstances, how  could  the  people  of  the  South  feel  mor- 
ally bound  to  continue  in  the  Union,  when  the  conduct 
of  the  North  was  such  as  to  lead  the  South  to  believe 
that  she  and  her  institutions  were  so  hated  and  despised, 
that  nothing  short  of  complete  degradation  would  sat- 
isfy the  temper  and  purpose  of  the  North.  They  de- 
clared the  Constitution  to  be  "A  league  with  hell  and 
a  covenant  with  the  devil."  They  openly,  publicly 
and  repeatedly  asserted  that  they  could  not  and  that  they 
would  not  abide  by  and  stand  to  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  as  rendered  in  the 
Dred  Scott  case ;  they  positively  and  emphatically  pro- 
claimed that  they  would  not  and  could  not  live  up  to 
and  fulfill  the  obligations  of  the  Constitution  in  its  pro- 
visions in  the  matter  of  fugitives  from  service.  The 
institution  of  slavery  they  contended  was  wrong,  and  no 
argument  however  logical,  no  compact  however  solemnly 
made,  no  decision  however  plainly  announced,  and  no 
obligation  however  distinctly   worded   and  deliberately 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  307 

signed,  sealed  and  delivered  could  induce  them  to  keep  the 
faith  firmly  pledged  by  their  forefathers. 

They  saw  at  tlie  South  nothing  but  the  bondage  of 
the  black  man ;  they  heard  nothing  but  his  supposed 
cry  for  freedom,  and  every  lash  of  correction  they  repeated 
in  ten  thousand  echoes,  and  every  expression  of  dissatis- 
faction was  multiplied  and  repeated  into  endless  reverbe- 
rations, until  the  whole  North  was  filled  with  one  wide, 
wailing  moan,  and  northern  indignation  rose,  rolled  and 
swelled  and  lashed  and  broke  like  an  angry  sea;  and 
buried  beneath  its  enraged  waters  every  vestige  of  calm 
thouglitand  unbiased  judgment  upon  this  most  unhappy 
subject  of  dispute.  Still  despite  it  all,  Virginia  loved  the 
Union,  and  her  conduct  showed  how  dearly. 

When  her  sons  witnessed  this  conduct  of  the  North, 
there  was  a  shock  of  grief  mingled  with  indignation. 
Her  Chief  Magistrate  was  openly  and  loudly  threatened 
with  assassinationif  he  dared  to  execute  John  Brown,  and 
this  though  not  one  single  slave  in  Virginia  had  joined 
Brown  nor  offered  him  the  slightest  aid  or  tendered  him 
a  single  expression  of  sympathy. 

The  fixed  purpose  of  Virginia  was  to  act  on  the  defen- 
sive ;  to  stand  between  the  two  extremes  and  to  use  every 
means  in  her  power  to  assuage  the  angry  flood  of  passion, 
and  thus  to  preserve  the  Union  if  the  Union  could  be 
preserved.  She  was  unwilling  to  secede,  and  when  her 
convention  met — a  vote  taken  stood  89  to  45  in  favor  of 
the  Union ;  she  did  not  believe  that  the  North  would 
dare  to  strike,  over  her  shoulders,  her  seceded  sister  States 
of  the  South ;  nor  did  she  doubt  that  she  could  in  due 
time  induce  these  offended  States  to  return  into  the  fold, 
if  their  rights  could  be  secured. 

She  planned  the  Peace  Conference  to  meet  at  Washing- 
ton. The  resolution  of  invitation  passed  her  Legislature 
the  19th  day  of  January,  1861,  by  a  unanimous  vote. 
To  this  conference  of  peace  her  noble  sons  came  with 


o08  YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE. 

higli  hopes,  earnest  appeals  and  fervent  prayers.  She 
asked  that  recognition  of  slavery  which  the  Constitution 
guaranteed — that  and  nothing  more,  but  to  this  the 
North  would  not  consent,  said  they  could  not  consent — that 
they  would  not  consent.  The  sentiment  of  the  North  was 
clearly  and  concisely  set  forth  in  a  speech  made  in 
that  conference  by  Governor  Salmon  P.  Chase  of  Ohio. 
Governor  Chase  was  considered  a  conservative  Repub- 
lican. He  was  able;  he  was  learned;  he  was  eloquent; 
he  was  candid;  he  was  sincere;  he  was  the  personal 
friend  of  ]\Ir.  Lincoln,  the  President-elect,  and  at  that 
time  understood  to  have  been  selected  and  did  in  due 
time  became  a  member  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  cabinet.  During 
the  discussions  which  took  place  before  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence, to  which  the  whole  world  was  looking  with  painful 
suspense  and  earnest  hope,  on  tlie  6th  day  of  February, 
GovernorChasesaid  :  **  I  must  speak  to  youplainly, gentle- 
men of  the  South ;  it  is  not  in  my  heart  to  deceive  3'ou  ;  I 
therefore  tell  you  explicitly  that  if  we  throw  away  all 
that  has  been  gained  in  the  recent  triumph  of  our  prin- 
ciples, the  people  would  not  sustain  us,  and  I  must  tell 
you  further  that  under  no  inducement  whatever  will  we 
consent  to  surrender  the  principle  of  restriction  of  slavery 
within  the  State  limits." 

The  Supreme  Court  had  just  decided  that  the  Federal 
Government  had  no  power  to  prevent  the  Southern  peo- 
ple  from  going  into  the  common  territories  with  their 
slaves,  and  so  here  Governor  Chase  expressly  declared 
that  the  North  would  not  regard  that  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

Then,  continuing,  said:  "Aside  from  the  territorial 
question — the  question  of  slavery  outside  of  the  slave 
States — I  know  of  but  one  serious  difficulty.  I  refer  to 
the  question  concerning  fugitives  from  service.  The 
clause  in  the  Constitution  concerning  this  class  is  re- 
garded   by  almost  all   men,   North  and    South,   as   a 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  309 

stipulation  for  the  surrender  to  their  masters  of  slaves 
escaping  into  free  States.  The  people  of  the  free  States, 
who  believe  slavery  is  wrong,  cannot  and  will  not  aid  in 
reclamation,  and  the  stipulation  therefore  becomes  a  dead 
letter.  You  complain  of  bad  faith,  and  the  complaint  is 
retorted  by  denunciations  of  the  cruelty  which  drags 
back  to  bondage  the  poor  slave  who  has  escaped  from  it. 
You,  thinking  slavery  right,  claim  the  fulfillment  of  the 
stipulation;  we,  thinking  slavery  wrong,  cannot  fulfill  the 
stipulation  without  the  consciousness  of  participation  in 
wrong.  There  is  a  real  difficulty,  but  it  seems  to  me  not 
insuperable.  It  would  not  do  for  ns  to  say  to  you  in 
justification  of  non-performance,  'The  stipulation  is  im- 
moral, and  therefore  we  cannot  execute  it;'  for  you  deny 
the  immorality,  and  we  cannot  assume  to  judge  for  you. 
On  the  other  hand,  you  ought  not  to  exact  from  us  the 
literal  performance  of  the  stipulation,  when  you  know 
that  we  cannot  perform  it  without  conscious  culpability. 
A  true  solution  of  the  difficulty  seems  to  be  attainable 
by  regarding  it  as  a  simple  case  where  a  contract,  from 
changed  circumstances,  cannot  be  fulfilled  exactly  as 
made.  A  court  of  equity  in  such  cases  decrees  execution 
as  near  as  may  be.  It  requires  the  party  who  cannot 
perform  to  make  compensation  for  non-performance. 
Why  cannot  the  same  principle  be  applied  to  the  rendi- 
tion of  fugitives  from  service?  We  cannot  surrender,  but 
we  can  compensate.  Why  not,  then,  avoid  all  difficul- 
ties on  all  sides,  and  show  respectively  good  faith  and 
good  will  by  providing  and  accepting  the  compensation 
where  masters  reclaim  escaping  servants,  and  prove  the 
right  of  reclamation  under  the  Constitution?  Instead  of 
a  judgment  for  rendition,  let  there  be  a  judgment  for 
compensation  determined  by  the  true  value  of  the  ser- 
vices, and  let  the  same  judgment  assure  freedom  to  the 
fugitive.  The  cost  to  the  national  treasury  would  bo  as 
nothing  in  compuridoii  with  the  evils  of  discord  and 
strife." 


310  YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE. 

This  speech  blasted  all  hope  that  rested  upon  the  Peace 
Conference.  Kay,  it  but  added  fuel  to  the  flames,  and 
rather  tended  to  widen  the  breach  that  was  deeply  yawn- 
ing between  the  North  and  the  South.  It  was  an  un- 
equivocal declaration  that  the  non-slaveholding  States 
w^ould  not  comply  with  their  acknowledged  obligations 
under  the  Constitution. 

No  doubt  the  speech  W'as  intended  by  its  author  in  a 
spirit  of  compromise  and  as  terms  of  conciliation,  and 
no  doubt  he  thought  the  terms  fair,  just,  and  equitable. 
Yet  it  did  but  serve  to  ring  the  death-knell  of  hope,  and 
to  bury  in  one  deep  and  narrow  grave  the  last  prospect 
of  peace.  It  was  the  ultimatum  of  the  North — the  final 
decree,  the  fixed  Judgment,  the  unchangeable  sentiment, 
and  firm,  unswerving  purpose  of  the  large  majority  of 
the  people  of  the  non-slaveholding  States. 

The  terms  of  the  proposed  compromise  was  Indeed  the 
ultimatum.  The  ground  upon  which  it  had  been  placed 
made  it  inevitably  so.  That  ground  w^as  conscientious 
convictions. 

Mr.  Cliase,  in  that  calm  dignity  and  clear  conciseness 
of  expression,  joined  with  perfect  candor,  M'hich  were  the 
chief  characteristics  of  his  nature,  here  named  the  terms, 
and  the  only  terms,  to  which  the  people  of  the  North 
could  agree.  He  stated  the  difficulties,  manfully  admit- 
ted that  they  of  the  North  could  not  keep  the  terms  of 
the  contract  as  made  by  the  founders  of  the  Government, 
declared  that  the  North  had  no  right  to  judge  for  the 
South  in  the  matter  of  morals,  and  as  to  what  they  pro- 
posed he  did  not  have  it  in  his  heart  to  deceive  the  South. 
On  the  sincerity  of  his  conscientious  convictions  that 
slavery  was  wrong,  he  justified  the  breach  of  contract. 

This  writer  maintains  that  every  man's  conscience  is 
the  rule  and  guide  of  his  life — fallible,  it  may  be,  but  it 
is  the  best  that  man  lias.  Then  stripped  of  all  feeling 
which  heated  discussions  had  engendered,  the  whole  of 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIfi  311 

the  issue  between  the  good  men  and  true  patriots  of  the 
North  and  the  South  may  be  narrowed  down  and  con- 
cisely stated  in  that  single  sentence,  "You  think  slavery 
right;  we  think  slavery  wrong."  Taking  Governor  Chase 
as  an  arbiter — and  upon  this  issue  there  ought  to 
have  been  but  one  opinion  as  to  where  the  path  of  duty 
lay — he  declares  the  North  has  no  right  to  judge  for 
the  South ;  the  South  has  no  right  to  judge  for  the  North. 
Then  let  each  judge  for  itself.  The  North  and  the  South 
could  not  agree.  Then  let  them  agree  to  disagree,  and, 
as  Greeley  put  it,  "  part  in  peace." 

The  principles  upon  which  the  Federal  compact  was 
founded  were  mutual  trust,  mutual  good  faith,  mutual 
confidence,  and  mutual  protection — protection  to  all  the 
institutions  of  the  respective  parties.  The  day  that  the 
parties  ceased  to  give  this  faith  and  the  compact  to  fur- 
nish this  protection,  ought  to  have  been  the  day  when 
each  party  be  allowed  to  choose  for  itself  what  course  it 
would  pursueasto  its  own  affairs.  The  South  had  no  right 
to  force  upon  the  North  moral  views  contrary  to  any 
fixed  opinions  her  people  might  hold,  nor  did  the  North 
have  the  right,  because  it  had  the  might,  first  to  break  the 
compact,  and  then  to  force  down  the  throats  of  the  South- 
ern people  tiie  nauseating  pill  of  coercion.  All  that  the 
South  asked  was  to  be  allowed  to  go  in  peace. 

The  North  named  the  ultimatum.  Were  the  terms 
just,  equitable,  and  fair?  Ought  the  South  to  have  ac- 
cepted them?  Could  she  do  so  consistently  with  her 
honor?  Could  she  do  so  without  placing  her  moral 
character  in  the  keeping  of  the  Northern  States?  Could 
she  do  so  without  confessing  that  the  institution  ofslavery 
was  and  had  been  from  the  beginning  wrong?  Could 
she  so  confess  without  staining  her  name  with  the  foulest 
blot  that  ever  darkened  a  people's  fame?  Could  she 
have  accepted  these  terms  without  at  once  and  forever 
abolishing  the  institution  of  slavery?    How  could  the  iu- 


312  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

stitution  exist  if  the  whole  North  waved  the  beacon-light 
of  welcome  and  bid  the  black  man  "  come  ?"  How  could 
the  black  man  stay  where  there  was  a  national  treasury 
to  pay  for  his  leisure?  Where  was  the  equity  in  the 
proposition  to  pay  for  fugitive  slaves  ?  Who  does  not  see 
that  it  was  one  set  of  men  spreading  a  feast  and  then 
leaving  another  set  to  pay  for  the  fare.  Who  will  believe 
that  the  Northern  States,  which  were  so  ready  to  protect 
the  fugitive,  would  have  been  willing  to  compensate  the 
owner  out  of  the  State  treasury  where  the  protection  was 
given?  AVhyletthe  State  protect  and  the  nation  pay? 
Why  did  not  Governor  Chase  say  we  must  protect,  but 
we  will  pay — we  the  people  of  the  State  that  protects.  I 
do  not  believe  that  there  was  a  single  non-slaveholding 
State  that  would  have  agreed  to  that — certainly  none 
ever  proposed  it.  Who  does  not  know  that  two-thirds  of 
the  Federal  revenue  before  the  war  was  drawn  from  the 
South  through  the  duties  paid  on  imported  articles  con- 
sumed on  the  sunny  side  of  the  Potomac  ?  To  pay  for 
the  fugitive  slave  out  of  the  National  treasury  would  then 
have  been  the  South  paying  for  its  property  to  the  extent 
of  two-thirds  of  the  money  paid.  "  Oh !  Consistency,  thou 
art  indeed  a  jewel." 

What  could  Virginia  do  ?  What  ought  she  to  have 
done?     What  did  she  do? 

Let  the  candid,  impartial  reader  pause  and  consider. 
Let  him  think,  and  then  in  the  deep  sincerity  of  his  heart 
say  if  duty  and  honor  and  manhood  did  not  rise  up  and 
revolt  at  the  idea  of  continued  servile  submission.  Let 
the  world  say  if  the  defeat  our  arms  sustained  is  marked 
with  the  dishonor  that  would  have  covered  the  South 
with  shame  had  she  accepted  the  terms  of  peace  which 
Mr.  Chase  proposed. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

WILLIAM  DODGE  had  brought  his  visit  to  a  close 
and  was  gone — gone,  he  said,  to  his  home  in  Wash- 
ington City,  but  whether  he  felt  in  his  heart  that  the  house 
there  at  which  he  usually  staid  when  in  the  city  was  his 
home  is  more  than  thought  can  conjecture ;  certainly  it 
was  not  considered  such  a  home  as  that  which  inspired 
the  lofty  genius  of  John  Howard  Payne  to  compose  and 
sing  that  immortal  song,  "Home,  Sweet  Home."  The 
song  of  all  songs  which  is  the  most  beloved.  The  song 
which  touches  every  heart  and  often  brings  tears  to  the 
eyes.  "  Home,  Sweet  Home! "  Oh  !  what  tender  chords 
in  my  heart  are  touched  at  the  mention  of  that  song. 
What  emotions  sweep  over  the  soul.  What  recollections 
it  suggests. 

On  one  of  the  quasi-fashionable  streets  of  the  ultra- 
fashionable  city  of  Washington,  out  on  the  Georgetown 
side,  was  a  large,  rather  old-style  brick  building.  There 
was  considerable  shrubbery  in  the  yard.  Several  pieces 
of  marble  and  bronze  statuary  and  a  water  fountain  of 
rather  pretentious  size,  all  of  which  indicated  means 
rather  than  taste  in  the  owner.  The  house  was  ostenta- 
tiously furnished,  the  furniture  being  of  the  old  and  the 
new  style — ^rather  after  the  manner  of  a  conglomerate.  In 
the  parlor  of  this  somewhat  peculiar  house  sat  two  per- 
sons-^=on0  an  old  lady  well  advanced  in  years,  but  dressed 
in  flashy  colors  well  suited  to  a  giddy  girl  in  her  teens; 
the  other  a  strikingly  handsome  young  man  in  the  full 
vigor  of  life.  Even  a  casual  glance  would  reveal  the  fact 
that  the  two  persons  were  mother  and  son.  The  young 
man  seemed  somewhat  excited,  and  was  speaking  with 
(313) 


314  YANKEE     DOODLE   DIXIE. 

an  impatient  tone.  "  Who  was  my  father  and  what  of  his 
tragical  death  ?  You  had  as  well  tell  me  now  as  later. 
I  know  that  the  infamous  wretch  who  murdered  your 
father  and  then  forced  you  to  marry  him  is  not  my  father." 

"  Stop  ! "  exclaimed  the  old  woman,  springing  to  her  feet. 
"Who  told  you  that?" 

*'You,"  exclaimed  the  young  man  hotly.  "You  in 
your  groans  and  moans  told  the  most  of  it.  The  rest  I 
have  from  the  records  which  I  found  during  my  visit 
down  in  Virginia — that  you  should  have  married  the 
murderer  of 

"Stay!"  screamed  the  woman,  springing  forward; 
"speak  not  the  word  again.  He  forced  me  to  marry 
him  by  the  power  which  he  had  over  my  person  and 
my  property,  but  I  swear  I  did  not  know  the  truth  until 
it  was  too  late,  and  by  all  the  angels  in  heaven  above 
and  the  demons  below,  I  swear  that  the  name  of  wife  is 
all  that  I  ever  was  to  him ;  not  so  much  as  even  our 
hands  have  ever  touched  since  the  moment  he  called  me 
wife.  If  it  be  a  crime  let  me  confess  it;  to  the  love  I 
cherished  for  a  better  man,  you  owe  your  existence.  I 
was  bound  with  chains.  I  loved,  and  love  with  me  was 
the  strongest  passion  of  my  life.  His  wife  was  dead  ;  he 
was  free.  It  was  my  wish,  my  act,  and  if  it  be  a  shame 
it  is  my  shame.  Who  he  was  you  will  know  when  I  am 
dead  and  gone,  but  until  then  all  the  dark  spirits  that 
flit  through  the  flames  of  perdition  cannot  drag  it  from 
me.  You  have  your  own  father's  face,  but  not  one  speck 
of  his  noble  nature.  By  some  strange,  mysterious  process 
all  the  devils  tliat  infested  the  pitch-black  soul  of  the 
man  whose  name  you  bear  have  been  transferred  to  your 
heart.  You  want  money — take  this  and  go — and  stay 
until  you  want  more;"  and  with  the  words  she  flung  a 
purse  with  all  her  might  straight  at  his  head. 

The  young  man  stepped  quickly  to  one  side.  The 
heavy  purse  struck  a  vase  on  a  side  table,  shattered  the 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  315 

vase  to  atoms,  and  fell  to  the  floor.  William  Dodge,  for 
it  was  he,  stooped,  picked  up  the  purse,  gave  his  mother 
one  look  of  contempt  and  scorn,  and  passed  from  the 
room  without  a  word. 

The  brilliant  young  collegiate  was  changed.  The 
pleasant  smile,  the  affable  manner,  the  congenial  spirit, 
were  gone — all  gone — a  cloud,  a  dark  angry  cloud,  rested 
oil  his  brow.  He  had  believed  in  nothing  good  before. 
He  hated  everything  now.  He  was  bitter — bitter  against 
the  world.  He  hated  the  whole  human  family.  He 
hated  himself.  He  recognized  his  baseness  and  loathed 
his  own  depravity.  He  w'as  stung  to  the  very  quick — 
his  pride  was  wounded  to  death.  He  sees  in  his  waking 
thoughts  that  terrible  picture  of  his  past  life ;  and  in  his 
sleep  it  haunts  him  like  a  frightful  vision.  Night  nor 
day  there  is  for  him  no  rest.  His  body  is  full  of  pain. 
His  limbs  rack  him  at  every  joint.  His  tlirobbing  head 
seems  bound  with  bars  of  brass.  His  days  are  filled 
with  torture;  his  nights  with  woe  and  fear.  His  sleep 
is  haunted  with  frightful  dreams  of  hideous  monsters 
that  ever  and  anon  wind  their  suffocating  coils  around 
his  limbs  and  dart  forth  tlieir  hissing  totigues  of  fire. 
He  starts  from  sleep  to  rave;  to  swagger  and  to  swear ; 
tc  curse  life  and  light ;  to  curse  day  and  darkness ;  to 
curse  God  and  man;  to  curse  heaven  and  hell,  and  all 
that  is  in  thought  or  dream. 

The  most  miserable  thing  that  walks  God's  green  earth 
is  a  self-accusing  soul ;  one  that  has  been  brought  to  see 
its  baseness  in  all  its  hideous  deformity  and  yet  has 
no  faith  in  God's  mercy,  or  Christ's  atoning  sacrifice. 
William  Dodge  had  seen  what  few  men  are  permitted  to 
see,  and  still  be  left  to  live.  He  had  seen  himself  just  as 
he  was ;  just  as  God  will  see  him  at  the  judgment  day. 
If  men  could  only  realize  what  they  are,  they  would  bury 
their  heads  in  the  dust  and  cry  :  "  Remorse  I  Remorse  1 1 
Remorse  IN" 


316  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

Satan  rebelled  against  God,  the  Most  High,  swearing 
that  he  would  rather  rule  in  hell  than  to  serve  in  heaven. 
William  Dodge  rebelled  against  every  offer  of  mercy, 
every  principle  of  right,  every  prayer  that  virtue  could 
breathe,  swearing  like  Bob  Ingersoll  that  he  would  bend 
the  suppliant  knee  to  no  potentate,  nor  p>ower,  human  or 
divine.  William  Dodge,  the  poor,  weak,  insignificant 
worm  of  the  dust,  whose  life  is  but  a  breath  of  air ; 
whose  body  is  less  than  a  speck  on  the  great  canvas  of 
creation ;  whose  strength  is  more  frail  than  a  scorched 
strand  of  hair,  lifts  himself  up  and  sets  his  foot  forward 
in  defiance  against  the  God  who  unrolled  the  great  crea- 
tion like  a  scroll  and  swung  all  the  mighty  hosts  of  stars 
through  tlie  boundless  realms  of  space. 

The  one  ruling  passion  of  his  life  now  was  to  down 
Charles  E-eed ;  to  crush  his  hopes  ;  to  blast  his  happiness 
and  to  blacken  his  name,  and  this,  as  he  walked  away 
from  his  mother's  door,  he  swore  he  would  do  though  all 
the  surging  cauldrons  of  a  boiling  perdition  rolled 
between  him  and  his  object.  And  just  how  well  he  tried 
to  keep  his  cruel  oath  let  the  sequel  to  this  story  bear 
witness. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE  bright  warm  days  of  November  had  passed  away. 
December  with  its  cold,  chilly  breath  had  crept  iii  and 
laid  its  icy  fingers  upon  Nature's  brow.  The  birds  had 
ceased  their  joyful  songs.  The  hum  of  the  bee  was 
hushed  in  silence  The  rising  sun  now  flashed  upon  the 
frosts  of  winter,  and  the  snow  gleamed  in  the  moon- 
light in  fields  of  matchless  beauty. 

.Nellie  and  Flora  impatiently  stood  in  the  stables,  and 
Helen  and  Charles  for  the  most  part  were  confined  to  the 
house.  They  sat  together  in  the  parlor  one  evening  at 
the  Grove.  They  had  not  for  a  little  while  been  convers- 
ing, for  the  sweetest  company  that  tlie  world  can  give  is 
that  company  whose  presence  is  all  the  heart  requires. 
The  brute  creation  sliares  this  pleasure  with  man  and  feels 
the  comfort  of  sincere  affection.  Man,  made  higher,  and 
nobler,  and  nearer  to  God,  feels  this  company  the  sweet- 
est gift  of  his  Creator,  and  lifts  his  heart  in  warmest  grati- 
tude when  this  blessing  he  feels  the  most.  Charles  had 
been  reading  from  a  copy  of  Washington  Irving's  Sketch 
Book  that  most  touching  and  tenderly  beautiful  chapter 
called  "  The  Broken  Heart."  As  the  world  knows,  it  is  a 
short  story  of  the  deep,  dark,  desolation  that  crushed  the 
heart  and  blasted  the  life  of  Sarah  Curran,  the  daughter 
of  the  celebrated  Irish  barrister.  She  was  promised  in 
marriage  to  Robert  Emmett,  the  Irish  patriot,  whose  trag- 
ical story  still  fills  the  world  with  sympathy. 

Helen  was  sitting  at  his  side,  her  book  partially  sup- 
ported by  his  knee,  looking  over  an  illustration  of  the 
Bible.     As  Charles  read  the  touching  story  of  woman's  de- 
votion, woman's  constancy  and  woman's  wonderful  love, 
(317) 


318  YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE. 

he  marked  with  a  pencil  those  passages  which  seemed  to 
appeal  for  sympathy  to  every  noble  nature.  "  I  believe 
in  broken  hearts  and  the  possibility  of  dying  of  disap- 
pointed love.  I  firmly  believe  that  it  has  withered  down 
many  a  lovely  woman  into  an  early  grave.  Woman's 
whole  life  is  a  history  of  the  affections.  The  heart  is  her 
world.  She  embarks  her  whole  soul  in  the  traffic  of 
affection,  and  if  shipwrecked  her  case  is  hopeless.  Her  lot 
is  to  be  wooed  and  won  ;  and  if  unhappy  in  her  love, 
her  heart  is  like  some  fortress  that  has  been  captured,  and 
sacked,  and  abandoned,  and  left  desolate.  The  love  of  a 
delicate  female  is  always  shy  and  silent.  Even  when  for- 
tunate she  scarcely  breathes  it  to  herself;  but  when  other- 
wise she  buries  it  in  the  recesses  of  her  bosom,  and  there 
lets  it  cower  and  brood  among  the  ruins  of  her  peace.  So 
is  it  the  nature  of  woman  to  hide  from  the  world  the  pangs 
of  wounded  affection.  Then  her  rest  is  broken ;  the  sweet 
refreshment  of  sleep  is  poisoned  by  melancholy  dreams: 
dry  sorrow  drinks  her  blood  until  her  enfeebled  frame 
sinks  under  the  slightest  external  injury." 

Charles  read  the  chapter  through  to  the  end,  and  then 
closing  the  book  over  his  right  hand,  let  it  fall  until  it 
rested  on  his  knee.  His  left  hand  he  laid  gently  on  Hel- 
en's shoulder.  She  looked  up  with  an  inquiring  expres- 
sion into  his  face,  and  read  there  the  deep,  earnest  heart- 
felt love  which  filled  his  whole  soul — love  that  needed  no 
proving,  affection  that  needed  no  advocate,  devotion  that 
never  could  be  doubted.  Helen  saw  at  a  single  glance 
the  touch  of  sadness  mingling  with  the  flow  of  his  affec- 
tions, and  with  that  innocent,  tender  caress  which  so 
strongly,  but  silently  appeals  to  the  heart  of  man,  she 
quietly  took  his  hand  from  the  book,  and  holding  it 
clasped  in  both  of  hers,  pressed  it  warmly.  His  face 
brightened  with  the  light  of  perfect  trust,  and  the  sweetest 
smile  that  peace  and  joy  and  gladness  could  wreathe  lit  up 
his  face. 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE,  319 

"What  is  it?"  she  asked,  "what  were  you  reading  that 
brought  that  serious  expression  to  your  face?"  He  said 
nothing,  but  bent  forward  and  lightly  touched  her  brow 
with  his  lips,  and  then  opened  the  book  at  the  page  where 
he  had  been  reading. 

Helen  noted  the  marked  passages  and  said  aloud,  "  The 
Broken  Heart."  Then  she  looked  and  said:  "The  sad 
story  of  Sarah  Curran.  It  is  beautiful,  but  like  you  it 
makes  me  feel  sad  to  read  it.  He  was  so  noble.  How 
could  they  condemn  him  to  die?  Treason  they  called  it; 
but  if  that  be  treason,  then  treason  is  the  crowning  virtue 
in  the  heart  of  liberty -loving  people.  But,  oh!  how  she 
must  have  suffered — what  agony  must  have  tortured  her 
life.  She  loved  him  and  he  was  worthy.  See  there  what 
it  says:  'He  was  so  young,  so  intelligent,  so  generous,  so 
brave.  His  conduct  under  trial,  too,  was  so  lofty — so  in- 
trepid. The  noble  indignation  with  which  he  repelled 
the  charge  of  treason  against  his  country ;  the  eloquent 
vindication  of  his  name,  and  the  pathetic  appeal  to  pos- 
terity in  the  hopeless  hour  of  condemnation  enters  deeply 
into  every  generous  bosom.'" 

"See  there;  it  says,  too,  that  'he  had  wooed  and  won  her 
affections  in  happier  days  and  fairer  fortune;' — and  she 
was  beautiful  and  interesting — and  then  it  says  so  touch- 
ingly  that  'she  loved  him  with  the  disinterested  fervor  of 
a  woman's  first  and  early  love,  and  when  every  earthly 
maxim  arrayed  itself  against  him ;  when  blasted  in  for- 
tune, when  disgrace  and  danger  darkened  around  his 
name,  she  loved  him  the  more  ardently  for  his  very  suf- 
ferings.' 

"  Oh !  who  can  tell  what  she  must  have  suffered !  What 
agonizing  despair  must  have  lowered  upon  her  heart  and 
darkened  her  life!  They  say  she  never  recovered.  All 
kinds  of  occupation  and  varied  amusements  were  resorted 
to  in  an  earnest  effort  to  dissipate  her  grief  and  wean  her 
away  from  the  tragical  story  cf  her  lover;  but  all  was 


320  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

vain,  and  well  might  Irving  say,  '  that  there  are  some 
strokes  of  calamit}^  that  scathe  and  scorch  the  soul — that 
penetrate  to  the  vital  seat  of  happiness,  and  blast  it,  never 
again  to  put  forth  bud  or  blossom.*  She  wasted  away  in 
slow  but  hopeless  decline,  and  at  length  sunk  into  the  grave, 
the  victim  of  a  broken  heart." 

When  Helen  had  read  the  last  paragraph  she  became 
silent.  Her  heart  was  full  to  overflowing.  Touched  and 
moved  by  the  sad,  pathetic  story,  tears  had  gathered  in 
her  eyes  and  the  dewdrops  of  tender  sympathy  were  now 
resting  on  her  cheek.  She  could  say  no  more,  but  she 
pressed  Charles's  hand,  which  she  still  held,  and  leaned 
her  head  against  his  shoulder.  He  made  no  comment, 
but  quietly  passed  his  arm  around  her  and  drew  her  ten- 
derly to  his  side,  as  he  kissed  away  the  tears  from  her 
eyes.  What  need  is  there  for  words  when  heart  responds 
to  heart  and  soul  to  soul  is  united.  Words  then  become 
vain  and  empty,  and  only  seem  to  mock  the  silent  sanc- 
tity of  blissful  emotions.  From  the  sad  and  deeply  pa- 
thetic story  of  Sarah  Curran  and  the  tragical  fate  of  her 
lover  the  thoughts  of  Helen  and  Charles  had  passed  to 
their  own  love  and  their  reciprocal  devotion,  each  one 
thinking  "What  would  we  do  if  such  sorrow  should  fall 
upon  us?"  Thus  for  a  few  moments  they  remained  in 
silence,  indulging  their  thoughts  in  heart-moving  reflec- 
tions, but  still  yielding  to  the  sweet  influence  of  love's 
tender  caresses.  Then  Charles  took  up  the  book  again  and 
read  aloud  that  most  beautiful  tribute  of  Moore  to  the 
love,  devotion,  and  constancy  of  that  noble,  but  truly 
broken  heart: 

"  She  is  far  from  the  land  where  her  young  hero  sleeps, 
And  lovers  around  her  are  sighing  ; 
But  coldly  she  turns  from  their  gaze  and  weeps, 
For  her  heart  in  his  grave  is  lying  ! 

"  She  sings  the  wild  songs  of  her  dear  native  plains, 
Every  note  which  he  loved  awaking— 
But  littlfi  they  think  who  delight  in  her  strains, 
How  the  heart  of  the  minstrel  is  breaking  I 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  321 

"  He  had  lived  for  his  love — for  his  country  he  died, 
They  were  uU  that  to  life  had  entwined  him— 
Nor  soon  shall  the  tears  of  his  country  be  dried, 
Nor  long  will  his  love  stay  behind  him  ! 

"  Oh  !  make  her  a  grave  where  the  sunbeams  rest, 
When  they  promise  a  glorious  morrow  ; 
They  will  shine  o'er  her  sleep,  like  a  smile  from  the  west 
From  her  own  loved  island  of  sorrow  !'' 

Helen  was  deeply  moved  by  the  story  coupled  with 
the  reading  of  these  verses.  They  were  touchingly  beau- 
tiful, but  that  was  not  all;  they  suggested  to  her  mind 
her  own  suffering  at  the  time  her  lover  had  been  brought 
to  her  home  dead,  as  she  thought,  and  lost  to  her  for- 
ever. Quietly  again  the  tears  gathered  in  her  eyes  and 
rolled  down  her  cheeks.  She  was  silent;  her  face  was 
turned  to  the  fire,  and  Charles  could  not  see  the  extent 
of  her  emotion;  but  he  knew  that  her  feelings  were  ten- 
der, and  as  the  book  again  rested  on  his  knee  he  drew 
his  arm  tighter  around  her  and  pressed  her  closer  to  his 
side.  She  knew  the  meaning  of  that  caress — love's  pro- 
tection, love's  sympathy,  love's  companionship — hearts 
beating  in  unison,  and  soul  to  soul  sweetly  wedded. 

The  world  may  call  this  deep  devotion  sentimental;  it 
may  mock  this  tender  union  of  hearts,  and  laugh  at  the 
idea  of  wedded  souls  and  kindred  spirits;  but  mockery, 
nor  jest,  nor  laughter  will  ever  rob  the  divinity  of  devo- 
tion of  one  ray  of  its  bright  light,  nor  dim  the  lustre  of  its 
heavenly  crown.  Those  who  have  given  their  hearts  over 
to  Mammon  and  their  sole  thoughts  to  the  accumulation 
of  gold,  may  never  feel  the  rapturous  delight  of  love's 
divine  blessing;  but  they  are  rather  to  be  pitied  than  con- 
demned, for  when  the  day  of  death  shall  overtake  them, 
when  their  dread  summons  shall  be  sounded,  when  mor- 
tality shall  end  its  journey  and  immortality  begin  its 
long  travel  through  the  depths  of  eternity,  methinks  that 
those  who  have  found  nothing  to  love  here  but  sordid  self 
will  find  but  little  to  love  there  beyond  the  grave. 
21 


322  YANKEE  DOODLE   DIXIE. 

The  life  of  Sarah  Carran  budded  a  beautiful  flower,  but 
it  was  bruised,  and  broken  and  blasted  in  its  beauty,  and 
perished  away,  withering  into  the  grave.  The  heart  of 
Robert  Emmett  was  noble,  his  young  manhood  was 
exalted,  his  patriotism  was  sealed  wdth  the  blood  that 
flowed  straight  from  his  heart.  He  died  accused  of  trea- 
son, and  his  death  makes  treason  an  immortal  glory. 
The  w^orld  will  never  forget  the  story  of  Sarah  Curran 
and  Robert  Emmett,  but  on  down  the  far  vista  of  time — 
on  and  on  with  the  rolling  years  as  they  pass  into  the 
cycles  of  countless  ages — their  story  will  be  told  and 
their  names  will  live  in  poesy  and  in  song. 

"  Cold  in  the  urn  their  dust  may  lie, 
But  ttie  spirit  that  warmed  it  once  will  never  die." 

"  Come,  Lovely,  don't  let's  indulge  our  thoughts  in  sad 
reflections  any  more.  We  have  so  much  to  make  us 
happy.  Let  our  hearts  be  as  full  of  light  as  the  sum- 
mer's sun,  and  our  voices  as  glad  as  the  song  of  the 
birds." 

Helen  looked  up  into  his  face  and  smiled  in  response. 
The  tears  of  sympathy  were  still  there.  Charles  saw 
them;  he  smiled  back  at  her,  then  pushed  the  hair  from 
her  brow  and  touched  it  with  his  lips,  and  then  again  as 
their  eyes  met,  he  still  smiling,  quoted  from  himself  a 
former  speech:  "A  little  shower — a  little  sunshine — and 
beauty  is  more  beautiful  still." 

"  You  naughty  boy !  Aren't  you  afraid  you  will  make 
me  vain?" 

"No,  my  pet — ten  thousand  noes.  You  are  too  good, 
and  too  true,  and  too  noble,  and  too  pure,  and — and — 
and — too" — he  smiled  and  kissed  her  brow  again — 
"loving  ever  to  be  made  vain." 

"I  wish  I  were  all  that  for  your  sake.  It  would  be 
sweet  to  feel  myself  worthy  of  the  noble  heart  that  I 
know  is  mine." 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  6*16 

"Come  now,  precious  1  I  will  promise  never  to  scold 
you  or  quarrel  with  you  as  long  as  I  live,  unless — unless 
you  disparage  that  sweetest  of  sweet  flowers  that  is  to 
bloom  in  my  path  and  gladden  my  heart  every  moment 
of  my  life.  But  you — yes,  even  you,  my  sweetheart!" 
and  again  he  kissed  her  brow — "  will  run  a  risk,  a  great 
big  risk,  if  you  speak  disparagingly  of  the  one  I  love 
more  than  I  love  my  life  itself.'' 

Helen  made  no  reply.  She  was  looking  at  him  while 
he  spoke,  slowly  and  feelingly.  When  he  ceased  she 
showed  in  the  expression  of  her  face  the  love  and  grati- 
tude she  felt. 

Words  can  never  express  what  hearts  like  these  can 
feel.  So  let  the  curtain  fall,  and  let  those  who  know 
how  sweet  it  is  to  love  and  be  loved  rejoice  with  Charles 
and  Helen  in  their  joy,  and  with  them  bask  in  that 
brightest  light  that  ever  burned  in  the  human  soul — 
mutual  trust,  mutual  love,  reciprocal  affection.  Those 
who  do  not  know,  never  will  know,  if  they  wait  for  words 
to  tell  the  story.  ' 


nNs^pd// 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  Peace  Conference  at  Washington  planned  b}^  Virgi- 
nia with  so  much  hope  of  happy  results  had  failed, 
and  the  failure  cast  a  deep  gloom  over  all  this  fair  land  of 
fame;  many  a  heart  full  of  love  for  the  Union  and  pat- 
riotism for  the  common  country  was  filled  with  grief,  and 
many  a  head  was  bowed  in  unconcealed  sorrow.  Deep 
in.  the  breast  of  the  grand  old  mother  of  States  there  was 
a  wound ;  her  own  daughter  had  hurled  the  shaft  and 
dealt  the  murderous  blow.  Ohio  had  laid  down  the 
ultimatum  ;  had  issued  the  dread  decree;  had  named  the 
terms,  and  the  only  terms,  of  peace.  The  very  land 
which  Virginia  gave  to  the  General  Government  to  pay 
the  price  of  American  Freedom,  furnished  the  statesman 
who  stepped  to  the  front  and  laid  down  the  ultimatum 
and  then  and  there  sounded  the  tocsin  of  war — the  death- 
knell  to  Virginia's  bright  hope  of  peace.  But  despite  it 
all,  did  the  grand  old  Commonwealth  despair?  Let  the 
records  speak  ;  she  loved  peace  more  than  she  did  glory; 
she  loved  the  Union  more  than  she  loved  tjie  glittering 
bubble  of  fame,  and  vain  as  the  effort  seemed  she  still 
sought  to  preserve  the  Union.  Her  Convention  was  still 
in  session  and  although  a  few  of  the  members  had  long 
since  despaired  and  yielded  up  all  hope  of  saving  the 
Union  and  openly  advocated  secession,  yet  a  large  majority 
still  clung  to  the  shadows  of  possibility  and  used  every 
means  within  their  power  to  stay  the  whirling  tide  of 
passion. 

Strong  among  the  most  hopeful  and  earnest  of  these 
Union-loving  patriots  was  Dabney  Peed.  All  that  the 
eloquent  tongue  could  utter,  hope  suggest,  patriotism  in- 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE,  32o 

spire  and  manly  courage  maintain,  he  had  said  and 
declared  and  continued  to  plead  for.  He  believed  fully 
and  firmly  in  the  doctrine  of  States  Rights.  The  resolu- 
tions of  '98  and  '99  were  still,  to  him,  the  law  and  the 
gospel  of  his  political  creed,  and  State  Sovereignty  was 
the  bed-rock  of  his  abiding  faith  and  the  sheet-anchor 
of  his  deep-seated  patriotism,  Virginia  had  joined  the 
Union  with  the  wcild-famed  proviso,  "That  the  powers 
granted  under  the  Constitution  being  derived  from  the 
people  of  the  several  States,  may  be  resumed  by  them 
whenever  the  same  shall  be  perverted  to  their  injury  or 
oppression,  and  every  power  not  granted  thereby  rem  tins 
with  them,  and  at  their  will."  There  was  not  a  man  nor 
woman  of  ordinary  intelligence  North  or  South  that  did 
not  understand  fully  the  intent  and  meaning  of  these 
words,  and  even  Massachusetts,  now  the  hot-bed  of  Abo- 
litionism, was  then  the  champion  of  the  ultra  States  Rights 
doctrine  and  took  the  lead  in  maintaining  State  Sover- 
eignty ;  she  it  was  that  incorporated  in  her  deed  of  rati- 
fication the  celebrated  proviso,  "That  the  powers  not  dele- 
gated to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution  nor  pro- 
hibited by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respec- 
tively," and  demanded  that  the  same  should  be  made  a 
part  of  the  Constitution,  which  was  done  without  a  dis- 
senting voice  and  is  now  known  as  the  tenth  amendment. 
In  adopting  the  Constitution  and  entering  the  Federal 
Union,  Massachusetts  had  rivaled,  and  it  might  be  said 
surpassed  Virginia,  in  setting  forth  clearly  the  doctrine  of 
State  Sovereignty.  That  doctrine  was  that  the  States  as 
States  acceded  to  the  Constitution  and  were  still  free, 
independent,  sovereign  powers  and  as  such  adopted  the 
Constitution  for  the  specific  purposes  in  the  Constitution 
named  and  no  more.  New  Hampshire  was  no  less  expli- 
cit, and  New  York  declared  in  express  terms,  "That  the 
powers  of  Government  may  be  re-assumed  by  the  people 
whensoever  it  shall  become  necessary  to  their  happiness ; 


326  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

that  every  power,  jurisdiction  and  right  which  is  not 
by  the  Constitution  clearly  delegated  to  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  or  to  the  departments  of  the  Government 
thereof  remains  to  the  people  of  the  several  States."  And 
even  little  Rhode  Island,  the  last  of  the  thirteen  States, 
which  acceded  to  the  Constitution  and  joined  the  Union, 
out-stripped  all  the  rest  in  the  clear,  concise  and  emphatic 
manner  in  w^hich  she  declared  "That  the  power  granted 
to  the  General  Government  of  the  United  States,  may  be 
resumed  by  the  people  of  Rhode  Island  whensoever  it  shall 
become  necessary  to  their  welfare  and  happiness."  And 
it  can  be  truthfully  said  without  the  fear  of  contradiction 
that  there  was  not  a  single  State  that  acted  upon  the 
Constitution  and  joined  the  Union  that  did  not  do  so  with 
the  distinct  understanding  that  State  Sovereignty  was 
retained  and  the  right  to  secede  reserved. 

In  1838,  long  after  the  stormy  times  of  '98  and  '99, 
long  after  the  nullification  idea  of  1833  had  been  dis- 
cussed, canvassed,  and  digested — after  the  grandest  debate 
that  the  world  has  everheardhad  been  duly  considered — 
John  Calhoun  introduced  into  the  Senate  of  the  United 
State  a  series  of  resolutions,  the  first  of  which  set  forth 
the  doctrine  of  State  Sovereignty  in  these  words:  "That 
in  adopting  the  Federal  Constitution  the  States  adopting 
the  same  acted  severally  as  free,  independent,  and  sover- 
eign States."  This  resolution  passed  the  Senate  by  an 
overwhelming  majority,  being  no  less  than  32  to  13,  as 
may  be  seen  from  the  Congressional  Globe, second  session 
Twenty-fifth  Congress,  page  74.  "  If,"  said  Mr.  Reed,  ad- 
dressing the  Virginia  Convention,  "  the  States  as  free,  in- 
dependent, and  sovereign  powers  acceded  to  the  Consti- 
tution only  for  the  purposes  in  the  Constitution  enume- 
rated, and  at  the  same  time  made  provision  for  all  resi- 
duary powers,  where  is  the  statesman  who  will  be  so  illog- 
ical as  to  affirm  that  the  State  has  parted  with  its  sover- 
eignty ?     Who  does  not  know  that  sovereignty  and  para- 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  327 

mount  authority  ever  have  been  and  ever  must  be  held 
synonymous  terms  ?  Can  paramount  authority  be  dual  ? 
Can  it  reside  in  two  places  at  the  same  time?  If  the 
States  possess  paramount  authority  and  the  General  Gov- 
ernment possesses  paramount  authority,  which  para- 
mount authority  would  be  paramount  over  the  other  in 
respect  to  the  same  subject-matter?  Such  jargon  would 
be  unworthy  even  of  a  political  monomaniac,  much  less 
an  American  statesman.  Then,  Mr.  President,  how  can 
the  Federal  Government  dare  attempt  the  coercion  of  a 
free,  independent,  sovereign  State?  Admit  the  sover- 
eignty, and  you  must  admit  the  right  of  secession.  Admit 
the  right  of  secession  and  you  must  deny  coercion,  unless 
coercion  is  to  be  justified  by  the  power  of  brute  force 
alone.  Admit  the  principle  in  ethics,  which  is  sound  in 
equity  and  in  law,  that  he  who  gives  with  qualification 
may  resume  when  the  qualification  is  disregarded,  and 
the  right  of  resumption  on  the  part  of  the  States  is  ad- 
mitted. Admit  the  right  of  resumption  of  delegated 
powers,  and  you  must  admit  the  right  of  secession  so- 
called.  Admit  the  right  of  secession,  and  coercion  be- 
comes the  blackest  deed  in  the  calendar  of  crime.  Coer- 
cion, then,  is  death  or  subjection  to  power,  and  death 
under  such  circumstances  is  murder  foul  and  most  un- 
natural. 

"  If  Virginia  ever  was  free ;  if  Virginia  ever  was  inde- 
pendent ;  if  Virginia  ever  was  a  sovereign  State,  when 
did  she  part  with  her  sovereignty  ?  When  did  she  sur- 
render her  independence?  When  did  she  yield  up  her 
nationality?  When  and  where  and  to  whom  did  she 
transfer  so  sacred  a  principle  ?  Where  is  the  deed  of  bar- 
gain and  sale  ?  Where  is  the  grant  of  such  a  gift  ?  Who 
can  show  the  record  ?  Who  can  name  the  consideration  ? 
That  she  was  a  free,  independent,  sovereign  State  at  the 
time  she  joined  thelJnionmustbean  admitted  fact,  else  the 
resolution  which  passed  the  United  States  Senate  on  the 


328  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

3d  day  of  January,  1838,  was  a  political  falsehood — a 
heinous  crime — a  black,  base,  cowardly,  ignominious  lie. 
She  joined  the  Union  to  be  a  member  of  the  Union,  and 
to  continue  a  member  of  the  Union  as  long  as  the  Union 
continued  to  serve  the  ends  and  purposes  for  which  it  was 
formed.  When  these  ends  and  purposes  failed,  her  right 
of  resumption  began.  The  very  essence  of  sovereignty 
is  to  make  and  unmake  constitutions;  to  form  and  to  abro- 
gate leagues.  Virginia  exercised  Jier  sovereignty  when 
she  helped  to  make  the  Constitution.  She  has  the  right 
to  exercise  the  same  sovereignty  when  that  Constitution 
fails  to  protect  her  institutions.  She  said  so  when  she 
adopted  the  Constitution.  She  said  so  when  she  was  re- 
ceived into  the  Union.  She  said  so  when  she  sent  Jeffer- 
son, her  grandest  statesman,  to  the  Presidency.  She  told 
the  States,  she  told  the  people,  she  told  the  world  that  the 
powers  granted  to  the  General  Government  would  be  re- 
sumed whenever  they  were  perverted  to  her  injury  or 
failed  to  protect  her  rights.  Has  it  failed  ?  Have  her 
rights  been  protected  ?  My  God !  Mr.  President,  it  makes 
me  mad  when  I  think  that  thirteen  States  of  this  Union 
have  slapped  Virginia  in  the  face  and  said,  *  You  shall 
not  claim  w^ithin  our  borders  the  benefit  of  the  second 
section  of  the  fourth  article  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,'  and  then  turn  with  unblushing  effront- 
ery and  tell  us  we  shall  remain  in  the  Union  whether  we 
will  or  no. 

"Let  me  ask  you,  Mr.  President — nay,  let  me  ask  the 
world — if  Virginia  is  bound  by  the  Constitution  to  con- 
tinue her  association  with  her  sister  States  of  the  North, 
when  her  Northern  sisters  openly  declare  that  they  can- 
not and  will  not  keep  the  covenant  of  mutual  protection  ? 
Virginia  has  as  much  right  to  sound  her  bugles  and 
summon  her  sons  to  the  field,  and  march  to  Massachu- 
setts and  compel  her  Legislature  to  rescind  her  fugitive- 
slave  law  upon  the  ground  that  it  is  unconstitutional,  as 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  329 

Massachusetts  has  to  transport  troops  to  Charleston  and 
attempt  the  coercion  of  South  Carolina.  Nay,  more,  Mr. 
President,  for  South  Carolina  is  only  doing  what  Massa- 
chusetts in  times  past  has  twice  declared  was  the  proper 
remedy.  Oh  I  shades  of  the  immortal  Webster,  on  what 
degenerate  shoulders  hast  thy  mantle  fallen!  Herein 
our  own  loved  Virginia,  at  Capon  Springs,  on  the  28th 
day  of  June,  1851,  thou  didst  declare  that  *I  will  say  to 
you  here  in  Virginia,  as  I  have  said  in  the  city  of  Boston 
and  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie,  that  if  the  Northern 
States  refuse  wilfully  and  deliberately  to  carry  into  effect 
that  part  of  the  Constitution  which  respects  the  restora- 
tion of  fugitive  slaves  and  Congress  provide  no  remedy, 
the  South  would  no  longer  be  bound  to  observe  the  com- 
pact. A  bargain  cannot  be  broken  on  one  side  and  still 
bind  the  other,  and  I  am  as  ready  to  fight  and  to  fall  for  the 
constitutional  rights  of  Virginia  as  I  am  for  those  of 
Massachusetts.' 

"  Oh !  thou  matchless  genius.  Oh !  thou  immortal 
spirit.  'Tis  well  for  thee  that  thou  wert  called  hence 
before  the  dark  clouds  of  passion  obscured  the  vision  of 
those  thou  didst  honor  by  serving,  else  thy  words  to-day 
would  have  been  counted  even  unto  thee  as  the  language 
of  treason. 

"  Mr.  President,  let  me  speak  to  you  concerning  the  faith 
that  is  in  me,  touching  the  high  moral  and  just  nature 
of  our  brethren  of  the  North.  I  do  not  believe,  I  can- 
not believe,  that  the  great  body  of  the  intelligent,  law- 
abiding  people  of  the  North  are  so  lost  to  the  principles 
of  justice  as  to  attempt  the  coercion  of  the  South.  The 
sons  of  those  noble  sires  who  fought  at  Bunker  Hill,  at 
Lexington,  at  Brandywine,  and  at  Trenton,  cannot  have 
forgotten  the  grand  principles  of  American  freedom — 
the  right  of  local  self-government. 

''I  have  opposed  secession  in  this  Convention  because  I 
believe  the  light  of  reason  may  yet  break  through  the 


660  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

dark  clouds  of  passion,  and  the  Northern  mind  be 
brought  to  loolc  upon  the  principles  of  right  and  justice 
as  revealed  in  our  glorious  Constitution. 

*'  Let  the  good  people  of  the  North  but  keep  the  terms 
of  that  contract,  so  plainly  written,  so  unmistakably  set 
forth,  and  I  still  see  bright  visions  rising  along  the 
future  of  our  history  to  which  all  the  glories  of  the  past 
are  but  as  pale  shadows. 

"I  do  not  believe  the  incoming  Administration  will 
attempt  the  coercion  of  the  South,  and  if  coercion  is  not 
attempted  I  believe  even  South  Carolina,  rash  and  way- 
ward as  she  is,  will  return  in  due  season  and  help  us 
form  a  more  perfect  Union. 

"Congress  has  no  constitutional  right  to  declare  war 
upon  a  State.  The  President,  without  a  declaration  of 
war,  has  no  constitutional  authority  to  levy  men  or 
money.  Let  me  read  to  you,  !Mr.  President  and  gentle- 
men of  the  Convention,  what  our  Chief  Executive,  Presi- 
dent Buchanan,  says  in  his  late  message  to  Congress : 
*  The  question  fairly  stated  is,  *  has  the  Constitution  dele- 
gated to  Congress  the  power  to  coerce  into  submission  a 
State  which  is  attempting  to  withdraw,  or  which  has 
actually  withdrawn  from  the  Confederacy  ? '  If  answered 
in  the  affirmative  it  must  be  on  the  principle  that  the 
power  has  been  conferred  upon  Congress  to  declare  and 
make  war  against  a  State.  After  much  serious  reflection, 
I  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  no  such  power  has 
been  delegated  to  Congress,  or  to  any  other  department 
of  the  Federal  Government.  It  is  manifest  upon  an 
inspection  of  the  Constitution  that  this  is  not  among  the 
specific  and  enumerated  powers  granted  to  Congress,  and 
it  is  equally  apparent  that  its  exercise  is  not  necessary 
and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  any  one  of  these 
powers.' 

"Again,  Mr.  President,  what  is  the  opinion  of  the 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States  upon  this  most 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  331 

delicate  but  all-absorbing  question  of  coercion — Jeremiah 
S.  Black,  of  Pennsylvania — than  whom  no  abler  lawyer, 
no  purer  Christian,  no  more  patriotic  citizen  lives  and 
breathes  the  free,  fresh  air  of  America,  has  spoken,  and 
that  in  no  uncertain  sound.  He  has  told  the  North, 
told  the  South,  told  the  President,  told  Congress,  told  the 
people,  and  told  the  world  *  that  there  is  no  constitu- 
tional right,  nor  power  in  the  Federal  Government  to 
coerce  a  seceded  State.'  *  War  cannot  be  declared  '  (he 
says),  *  nor  a  system  of  general  hostilities  carried  on  by 
the  Central  Government  against  a  State.  An  attempt 
to  do  so  would  be  ipso  facto ^  an  expulsion  of  such  State 
from  the  Union.  And  if  Congress  shall  break  up  the 
present  Union  by  unconstitutionally  putting  strife  and 
enmity  and  armed  hostility  between  different  sections  of 
the  country,  instead  of  the  domestic  tranquility  which 
the  Constitution  was  meant  to  insure,  will  not  all  the 
States  be  absolved  from  their  Federal  obligations? '" 

"No,  Mr.  President,  the  Federal  Government  must  not, 
will  not  attempt  the  coercion  of  the  seceded  States.  The 
moment  the  guns  of  the  General  Government  are  turned 
upon  the  breast  of  any  one  of  the  States  of  the  Union, 
that  Union  as  it  now  exists  is  forever  dissolved.  Vir- 
ginia could  not,  would  not,  stand  idly  by  and  witness  a 
war  of  coercion.  The  echoes  of  the  first  booming  cannon 
that  is  fired  for  the  purpose  of  coercion  will  be  answered 
by  a  spirit  of  defiance  bursting  from  the  lips  of  every 
patriotic  son  of  Virginia.  Her  hills  and  her  valleys 
would  ring  with  one  prolonged  cry  of  indignation.  From 
the  seaboard,  over  her  mountains,  down  to  the  yellow 
waters  of  the  Ohio  the  tide  of  unsuppressed  wrath  would 
roll,  and  a  hundred  thousand  gleaming  swords  would 
flash  in  the  sunlight  of  liberty  in  defence  of  constitu- 
tional right. 

"Will  the  North  dare  the  experiment?  Will  Con- 
gress, will  the  Administration,  will  Mr.  Lincoln  drive 


332  YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE, 

Virginia  and  the  other  border  States  out  of  the  Union? 
God  forbid  1  We  are  here  in  the  home  of  our  fathers, 
and  here  we  mean  to  stay  until  the  bow  of  promise  has 
lost  its  last  tints  and  its  beauty  forever  faded  amid  the 
black  clouds  of  civil  war.  Shall  the  opinion  of  our  Chief 
Magistrate,  and  he  a  Northern  man,  stand  for  naught? 
Shall  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney-General  be  held  as  the 
weight  of  a  feather?  Shall  the  opinions  of  that  host  of 
patriots  which  convened  at  Albany,  New  York,  on  the  31st 
day  of  January  of  this  present  year,  be  considered  but  as 
idle  breath  and  weighed  as  a  sighing  zephyr?  Horace 
Greeley,  the  Ajax  Telemon  of  the  Abolition  editors — he 
Mdiose  blood  never  boiled  but  it  cast  up  its  venom  and 
vituperation  for  the  South — has  had  the  candor  to  say 
that  the  Albany  convention  was  probably  the  strongest 
and  most  imposing  assemblage  of  delegates  that  ever 
convened  within  the  State.  Thirty  of  them  had  been  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  three  of  them  candidates  for  Governor, 
and  one  of  them  twice  elected.  This  grand  rally  of  the 
patriots  of  New  York  met  for  the  avowed  purpose  of 
peace.  Judge  Parker  was  chosen  chairman,  and  let  me 
read  you  what  he  said :  *  The  people  of  this  State  demand 
a  peaceful  settlement  of  the  questions  that  have  led  to 
disunion.  They  have  a  right  to  insist  that  there  shall 
be  conciliation,  concession  and  compromise.' 

"The  venerable  Alexander  B.  Johnson,  of  Utica,  said: 
'The  will  of  a  large  portion  of  the  citizens  of  this  State 
is  against  any  armed  coercion  on  the  part  of  the  General 
Government,  or  of  the  State  governments,  to  restore  the 
Union  by  civil  war.  The  advocates  of  the  horrid  vio- 
lence against  the  doctrines  of  our  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence would,  if  successful,  constitute  a  more  radical 
revolution  in  our  form  of  government  than  even  seces- 
sion. We  sympathize  in  no  desire  to  take  a  bloody 
revenge  on  those  who  think  they  can  live  more  peacefully 
and  prosperously  alone  than  in  the  Union  with  those 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  833 

who  have  for  years  irritated  them  almost  to  madness 
by  denouncing  them  as  a  reproach  and  a  disgrace  to 
humanity.' 

" '  If  we  now  attempt  to  strengthen  the  government  by 
coercive  action,  which  all  men  know  its  founders  would 
have  rejected  with  scorn,  we  are  the  revolutionist  and  not 
the  South.' 

"  And  again,  Mr.  President,  let  me  read  the  language  of 
Governor  Horatio  Seymour,  the  very  Nestor  of  New  York 
statesmen :  '  All  virtue,  patriotism  and  intelligence  seem 
to  have  fled  from  the  National  Capitol.  Do  you  not  see 
there  the  senseless  imbecility,  the  garrulous  idiocy,  the 
maddened  rage  displayed  with  regard  to  petty  personal 
passions  and  party  purposes,  while  the  glor}^,  the  honor, 
and  the  safety  of  the  country  are  all  forgotten  ? ' 

"  '  We  are  advised  by  the  conservative  State  of  Virginia 
that  if  force  is  to  be  used  it  must  be  exerted  against  the 
united  South.  Let  us  see  if  successful  coercion  by  the 
North  is  less  revolutionary  than  successful  secession  by 
the  South.  Shall  we  prevent  revolution  by  being  the 
foremost  in  overthrowing  the  principles  of  our  govern- 
ment ?  Let  us  take  care  that  we  do  not  mistake  passion 
and  prejudice  and  partisan  purposes  for  principle.  The 
cry  of  '  no  compromise '  is  false  in  morals  ;  it  is  treason  to 
the  spirit  of  the  Constitution ;  it  is  infidelity  to  religion. 
Compromise  is  the  vital  principle  of  the  social  existence. 
It  unites  the  family  circle;  it  sustains  the  church,  and 
upholds  nationality.' 

"Again,  Mr.  President,  a  Northern  man  speaks,  and  we 
have  the  record  to  show  that  a  Northern  convention 
applauded  him  to  the  echo.  Mr.  James  S.  Thayer,  not  a 
Democrat,  but  a  Whig  of  the  Henry  Clay  school,  says : 
*  We  can  at  least  by  discussion  enlighten,  settle  and  con- 
centrate the  public  sentiment  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  save  it  from  the  fearful  current  that  runs  circuitously, 
but  certainly  sweeps  madly  on  through  the  narrow  gorge 


334  YANKEE   BOODLE   DIXIE. 

of  the  enforcement  of  tlie  laws  to  the  shoreless  ocean  of 
civil  war ;  against  this,  under  all  circumstances,  in  every 
place  and  form,  we  must  now  and  at  all  times  oppose  a 
resolute  and  unfaltering  resistance.  And  if  the  incoming 
Administration  shall  attempt  to  carry  out  the  line  of 
policy  that  has  been  foreshadowed,  we  announce  that 
when  the  hand  of  Black  Republicanism  turns  to  blood 
red  and  seeks  from  the  fragment  of  the  Constitution  to 
construct  a  scaffolding  for  coercion,  we  will  reverse  the 
order  of  the  French  Revolution  and  save  the  blood  of 
the  people  by  making  those  who  would  inaugurate  a 
reign  of  terror  the  first  victims  of  a  national  guillotine. 
There  are  some  men  who,  when  the  fever  of  fight  has 
subsided,  will  wake  up  and  wonder  that  they  mistook 
the  madness  of  passion  for  the  glow  of  patriotism.  You 
remember  the  story  of  William  Tell,  who  when  the  con- 
dition was  imposed  upon  him  to  shoot  an  apple  from  the 
head  of  his  son,  after  he  had  performed  the  task  let  fall 
an  arrow  from  his  bosom.  'For  what  is  that?'  said 
Gesler.  *  To  kill  thee,  tyrant,  had  I  slain  my  boy  !'  Let 
but  one  arrow  winged  by  the  Federal  bow  strike  the 
heart  of  an  American  citizen,  and  who  can  number  the 
avenging  darts  that  will  cloud  the  heavens  in  the  conflict 
that  will  ensue?* 

*'Who,  Mr.  President,  can  mistake  this  language?  Who 
can  misunderstand  the  sentiment  and  the  opinion  ex- 
pressed ?  Who  can  doubt  the  ability  of  that  Conven- 
tion? Who  will  call  in  question  the  sincerity  of  the 
speakers  ?  If  such  a  host  of  the  good  people  of  the  North ; 
such  a  gathering  of  her  ablest,  purest  and  most  patriotic 
statesmen  agree  with  our  Chief  Magistrate  and  our  Attor- 
ney-General that  coercion  would  be  a  political  crime,  why 
should  the  southern  sky  be  darkened  by  a  single  cloud  of 
doubt.  Virginia  published  it  to  the  world,  when  she 
entered  the  Union  that  she  did  so  with  distinct  under- 
standing that  she  would  resume  all  of  her  delegated  powers 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  335 

whensoever  they  should  be  perverted  to  her  injury  or 
oppression.  Does  it  need  a  logician,  Mr.  President,  to 
prove  that  the  powers  granted  have  been  perverted  to  the 
injury  of  Virginia,  when  these  powers  are  being  invoked 
by  the  dominant  party  of  the  North  to  destroy,  defeat  and 
suppress  the  domestic  institutions  of  the  South  ?  Does 
the  mind  require  a  legal  training  to  see  that  from  the 
admitted  facts  and  the  avowed  principles  of  the  Republi- 
can party  so  candidly  declared  by  Governor  Chase  in  the 
Peace  Conference,  that  Virginia  has  the  right  to  resume 
her  delegated  powers  ?  That  resumption  is  secession,  and 
that  secession  becomes  a  constitutional  remedy  for  the 
injury  sustained  ?  But,  Mr.  President,  for  the  sake  of  this 
Union,  for  the  sake  of  the  love  that  I  still  bear  our  breth- 
ren of  the  North,  for  the  sake  of  the  glories  of  the  past 
and  the  brighter  glories  that  yet  may  come,  let  me  indulge 
the  hope  that  no  steps  will  yet  be  taken  by  Virginia  to 
secede,  and  oh !  let  me  indulge  the  hope  also  that  no  efforts 
looking  to  coercion  will  be  made  by  the  North,  and  from 
the  deep  sincerity  of  my  soul  let  me  offer  up  the  prayer 
that  the  scales  may  fall  from  the  eyes  of  Republican 
fanaticism,  and  that  our  country — our  glorious  country — 
may  not  be  steeped  in  the  bloody  horrors  of  a  civil  war." 
This  speech  made  by  Mr.  Reed  in  the  Convention  cre- 
ated a  profound  impression.  It  was  eloquent ;  it  was 
logical ;  it  was  manly ;  it  was  patriotic.  It  was  published 
and  read  all  over  the  North.  The  peace-loving  citizens 
up  there  hailed  it  with  delight,  but  the  enemies  of  the 
South — the  Black  Republican  party — greeted  it  with  ridi- 
cule, with  jeers,  with  mockery  and  with  derision ;  they 
were  elated  with  their  victory,  flushed  with  their  success  and 
blinded  with  their  fanaticism.  They  saw  nothing  clearly; 
they  mistook  this  magnanimous  forbearance  and  deep 
fervent  prayer  for  peace  as  signs  of  a  cowardly  spirit  and 
conscious  weakness ;  they  said  the  old  mother  of  States 
and  of  statesmen  had  become  imbecile,  craven  and  cowardly 


330 


YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE.. 


and  proposed  to  palm  off  on  the  North  presumption  fo^ 
patriotism.  They  declared  that  her  genius  had 
degenerated  since  the  days  of  her  giants ;  that  she  was 
hoary  with  old  age;  paralytic  with  helplessness  and  patient 
for  the  lack  of  power,  and  thus  they  dared  to  lay  over  her 
shoulders  the  lash  of  correction.  And  so  in  a  single  moment 
perished  the  hope  of  years. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

THE  old  haunted  house  had  burned  to  the  ground  ; 
what  was  once  a  beautiful  home,  where  peace  and  happi- 
ness reigned,  was  now  a  heap  of  brick  and  ashes ;  the 
shade  trees  which  once  stood  in  all  their  grandeur,  the 
pride  of  the  place,  and  waved  their  branches  a  joyful  wel- 
come alike  to  the  stranger  and  the  friend,  now  stood 
scorched,  black  and  blasted,  mournful  sentinels  of  the 
ruin.  Long  the  old  house  had  stood  there  silent  and 
deserted,  a  sad  reminder  of  the  vicissitudes  of  life,  its  sor- 
rows and  its  cares.  Who  was  the  owner  of  that  spot  of 
desolated  ground,  no  one  knew;  no  one  would  have 
stopped  to  consider,  had  it  not  been  for  a  mysterious  stran- 
ger that  appeared  in  the  neighborhood,  in  whom  all  the 
curiosity  of  the  country  was  centered  ;  he  came  on  Christ- 
mas eve,  the  anniversary  of  the  very  night  on  which 
that  dreadful  tragedy  of  murder  had  been  enacted.  The 
first  that  was  seen  of  him  was  when  he  was  standing  in 
the  midst  of  the  pile  of  burnt  bricks,  his  arms  folded 
on  his  breast,  silently  and  sadly  gazing  on  the  ruins 
around  him.  He  was  an  old  man,  his  long  white  hair 
fell  in  heavy  folds  low  down  upon  his  shoulders,  while  his 
thick  beard,  white  almost  as  the  driven  snow,  hung  nearly 
to  his  waist.  Who  he  was, and  what  he  was, no  one  knew, 
but  conjecture  was  rife,  for  the  old  cottage  of  Mr.  Kelley 
on  the  river  bank  had  become  the  abode  of  the  mysteri- 
ous stranger.  No  one  had  been  near  enough  to  the  cot- 
tage to  speak  to  the  strange  man,  but  several  had  seen 
him  walking  about ;  his  head  bent  down,  his  body  droop- 
ing, his  step  unsteady  and  slow.  How  long  he  had  been 
at  the  cottage  none  could  tell,  and  why  he  came  was  a 
22  (337) 


338  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

mystery  more  profound.  The  colored  people  believed  him 
to  be  a  veritable  ghost  and  well  did  his  appearance  justify 
the  superstition. 

The  story  of  the  terrible  tragedy  of  the  haunted  house 
was  revived  and  told  and  talked  of  at  every  fire-side,  and  it 
was  suggested  and  believed  that  the  murderer  had  yielded 
to  that  strange  fascination  which  it  is  known  that  crime 
has  for  its  victims  and  returned  to  view  the  spot,  possibly 
to  do  penance  for  the  deed  that  was  done,  in  order  to  drown 
the  deep  remorse  that  beggared  his  soul. 

Several  weeks  had  passed  since  the  mysterious  stranger 
made  his  appearance  in  the  neighborhood,  and  comment 
in  regard  to  him  became  less  frequent. 

Charles  had  been  over  to  the  Grove  to  spend  the  even- 
ing with  Helen ;  the  day  appointed  for  their  marriage 
was  now  near  at  hand  and  all  necessary  preparations 
were  about  completed.  January  had  passed  and  tiie  2oth 
of  February  was  fast  approaching ;  the  wedding  day — 
the  day  to  which  two  tender  hearts  could  turn  with  fond 
hopes  as  for  them  the  brightest  that  had  ever  yet  dawned 
along  the  east. 

Charles  had  had  a  long  talk  with  Helen,  in  which 
he  explained  to  her  fully  the  terrible  crisis  through  which 
our  unhappy  country  was  passing.  He  gave  it  as  his 
candid  opinion  that  there  would  be  a  civil  war,  and  that 
Virginia  would  be  driven  out  of  the  Union  by  the  aggres- 
sive measures  which  the  incoming  Administration  would 
inaugurate.  But  Helen  seemed  to  be  more  hopeful ;  she 
could  not  believe  that  the  North  would  be  so  cruel  as  to 
deliberately  make  war  on  the  South  when  the  South  only 
asked  to  be  let  alone  in  the  maiiagementof  its  own  affairs. 
She  could  not  understand  the  motive  that  would  move 
any  people  to  be  so  wicked  ;  coercion  and  subjugation  to 
her  mind  were  crimes  of  the  most  cruel  nature,  but  come 
what  might  she  did  not  think  the  South  could  ever  be 
subdued.     "The  men  are  too  brave,"  she  said,  "  for  that ;" 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  339 

and  she  looked  at  Charles  with  feelings  of  pride,  "  and 
the  women  are  too  noble,  too  true,  too  unselfish  for  the 
men  ever  to  yield  in  their  defence." 

Said  Charles,  taking  up  the  sentence : 

"  No,  my  brave  little  sweetheart,  I  did  not  mean  that 
ihe  South  would  be  subdued,  but  that  I  thought  the 
North  would  attempt  it  and  press  it  until  they  find  out 
that  the  South  is  in  dead  earnest  about  the  matter."  Then 
continuing,  he  said,  *'  I  need  not  tell  you  that  it  distresses 
me  to  think  of  breaking  up  this  Union,  for  my  heart  is 
wedded  to  our  noble  government,  certainly  the  best  that 
the  world  ever  saw  if  it  is  only  administered  as  it  is  writ- 
ten; but  if  they  begin  to  change  it  by  construction,  if  they 
abandon  its  principles  as  they  are  clearly  written  out,  and 
let  the  President  and  the  Congress  and  the  judiciary  con- 
strue its  powers  just  to  suit  their  views  and  to  serve  their 
purposes,  it  will  soon  be  so  changed  and  undermined  that 
it  will  fall  from  its  own  weakness.  The  best  principles  for 
any  government  are  those  which enableevery  man,  woman 
and  child  to  know  just  what  to  expect  and  just  what 
will  be  done ;  strict  construction  is  the  safest  way  to 
interpret  every  contract.  Let  each  party  do  exactly 
what  they  agree  to  do  and  let  all  stand  to  the  old  motto 
^fiatjustifia,  mat  ccelum."* 

Helen  and  Charles  continued  to  talk  for  some  time  upon 
the  general  subject  of  political  affairs  until  the  evening 
was  well  advanced,  when  Charles  consulted  his  watch  and 
said,  "  It  is  almost  eleven  o'clock ;  I  must  be  riding."  He 
arose  as  he  spoke,  and  Helen  got  up  and  stood  beside 
him.  He  took  her  hand  in  his  as  she  did  so,  and  then 
she  said  • 

"  I  hate  to  see  j^ou  go  out  in  the  cold  ;  can't  you  spend 
this  one  night  from  home?  You  will  find  your  old  room 
comfortable." 

Charles  thanked  her  for  the  invitation,  but  said  he  was 
compelled  to  be  at  home  early  in  the  morning,  and  he 


340  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

thought  it  would  be  less  disagreeable  to  ride  at  night  than 
in  the  cold  of  the  accumulated  frost.  Helen  then  got  his 
hat  and  overcoat  for  him  and  warmed  his  glove  by  the 
fire  as  he  drew  on  his  overcoat.  He  then  took  her  hand 
to  say  good  night,  and  said,  *'  By  the  way,  I  had  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Dodge  this  afternoon;  he  sent  his  kindest 
regards  to  you,  and  said  you  would  find  a  more  substan- 
tial evidence  of  his  good  wishes  at  the  express  office.'* 

"I  will  send  to  the  office  to-morrow,  and  when  I  have 
seen  what  it  is  for  which  I  am  to  thank  him  will  write  to 
him.     What  is  his  address?" 

"  'Washington,  Lock-box  590,'  is  his  usual  address,  but 
he  said  he  would  not  be  in  the  city  for  some  time.  His 
letter  is  postmarked  Washington,  but  it  is  dated  the  20th 
and  mailed  the  19th.  I  do  not  exactly  understand  why 
he  did  not  get  my  letter  if  he  was  in  the  city  on  the  19th 
or  20th.  I  wrote  on  the  17th  ;  my  letter  ought  to  have 
reached  Washington  that  night  and  he  should  have 
received  it  the  next  day,  but  it  is  evident  that  he  had  not 
received  it  when  he  wrote  me.  He  only  wrote  a  short  let- 
ter ;  said  he  was  quite  busy,  and  would  write  again  soon 
and  explain." 

Helen  said  she  would  write  her  note  of  thanks  any 
way  and  send  it  to  Washington,  and  perhaps  it  would  be 
forwarded  if  he  proposed  to  be  absent  any  length  of  time. 

Charles  then  said,  "good-night,"  and  took  his  leave, 
promising  to  come  over  to  tea  the  next  evening.  Uncle 
Ben  had  seen  that  the  hostler  had  Charles's  horse  at  the 
stile  promptly  at  the  hour  requested,  and  as  Charles  took 
the  bridle  he  slipped  a  silver  piece  in  the  boy's  hand. 

The  moon  had  fallen  below  the  horizon  when  Charles 
came  out  to  go  home,  and  as  there  was  a  slight  haze,  and 
consequently,  but  few  stars,  the  night  was  compara- 
tively dark.  As  Charles  gathered  up  his  reins  to  mount, 
a  large  white  dog  came  forward  wagging  his  tail  and 
whining  with  pleasure.    "  You  here  Ruler  ?"  said  Charles, 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  341 

speaking  to  the  dog.  "  It  was  nice  of  you  to  wait  for 
Master,"  and  he  patted  the  faithful  animal  on  the  head, 
which  in  return  rubbed  his  nose  against  Charles's  hand 
in  acknowledgment  of  the  caress. 

Ruler  was  a  big  white  dog,  a  cross  between  a  hound 
and  a  St.  Bernard,  and  of  late  had  taken  the  greatest 
fancy  to  Charles,  which  he  manifested  by  following  him 
every  where  he  went.  Quite  a  rivalry  had  sprang  up 
between  Ruler  and  Ponto,  the  pointer.  The  latter,  pointer- 
like, being  cold-natured,  now  for  the  most  part  kept  to  the 
house,  but  Ruler  being  more  hardy  got  the  better  of  it 
whenever  Charles  was  out  from  home. 

He  had  followed  him  to-night,  and  when  Charles  went 
in  the  house,  had  gone  to  the  stable  and  there  laid  down 
in  the  stall  by  his  horse,  waiting  patiently  his  master's 
return.  Oh!  the  constancy  and  sincerity  of  a  dog's 
attachment.  It  never  changes,  it  never  grows  cold,  it 
never  burns  out.  The  dog  loves  with  a  love  of  which 
the  human  heart  might  be  envious.  He  never  leaves  you 
in  sickness;  he  never  deserts  you  in  sorrow;  he  never 
forsakes  you  in  misfortune,  nor  abandons  you  in  danger. 
In  cold  and  hunger  and  suffering,  even  up  to  death's  door, 
he  is  3^our  friend,  and  will  lick  your  hand  at  the  moment 
he  yields  up  his  heart's  bloodshed  in  your  defence  as  au 
evidence  of  his  unfading  attachment. 

Some  years  ago  in  the  city  of  6avannah  this  writer 
was  called  to  assist  in  the  defence  of  a  man  charged  with 
some  heinous  crime.  He  was  a  stranger  in  the  city,  and, 
for  reasons  of  his  own,  refused  to  give  any  account  of  his 
past  life.  He  was  strong  and  robust  in  body,  but  his  face 
indicated  sorrow  and  mental  suffering.  There  was  no 
positive  proof  of  the  prisoner's  guilt,  but  circumstantial 
evidence  was  strong,  and  suspicion  was  still  stronger 
owing  to  the  fact  that  quite  a  large  reward  was  offered 
for  the  arrest  and  conviction  of  the  perpetrator  of  the 
deed. 


342  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE, 

The  prisoner  had  been  confined  for  some  days  iu  jail, 
and  every  means  known  to  the  detective  service  used  to 
secure  evidence  against  him.  Watclies  had  been  set  near 
his  cell;  promises  of  impunity  made  to  induce  confession; 
but  all  to  no  purpose.  The  prisoner  asserted  his  inno- 
cence, and  repelled  the  accusation  of  guilt  with  scorn  and 
contempt. 

When  the  prisoner  was  thrust  in  jail  a  small  black  and 
yellow  fice  dog  that  trotted  at  his  heels  was  kicked  away 
and  went  crying  around  the  building,  but  he  did  not 
leave;  he  soon  came  back  and  lay  there  in  the  sunshine 
watching  that  prison  door.  The  poor  little  fellow,  unfed, 
wasted  away  with  hunger,  until  he  was  but  little  more 
than  skin  and  bones ;  still  he  was  faithful  in  his  watch 
and  lingered  on  in  love's  patience. 

That  day  when  the  writer  came,  by  some  strange  intui- 
tive or  instinctive  power,  the  little  dog  seemed  to  see  in  me 
something  of  friendly  kindness,  and  came  forward  to  meet 
me,  and  when  I  gave  him  a  guess  name  and  snapped  my 
fingers  at  him  he  show^ed  unmistakable  signs  of  appre- 
ciation and  took  his  place  at  my  side.  I  was  told  by  the 
jailer  that  the  prisoner  was  a  hard-hearted,  stubborn, 
dangerous  man;  slow  to  speak,  but  when  he  spoke,  bitter 
in  his  feelings ;  bitter  towards  all  the  world  ;  bitter  towards 
his  accusers — bitter  and  hopeless,  but  firmly  defiant.  I 
need  not  say  that  I  entered  the  prison  to  consult  with  my 
client  wath  some  feelings  of  prejudice  in  my  heart ;  for 
the  guilty,  abandoned  wretch,  whose  conscience  has  been 
sapped  by  crime,  often  plays  the  stoic  when  overtaken  by 
the  law.  The  prisoner  knew  that  I  was  coming,  but  he 
seemed  to  expect  little  or  no  hope  from  my  efforts.  He 
was  sitting  on  the  side  of  his  bed,  his  face  buried  in  his 
hands,  apparently  in  deep  thought.  As  the  cell  door 
sounded  on  its  hinges  and  swung  open,  he  looked  up. 
There  was  but  one  expression — despair — hopeless  despair. 
He  put  his  hand  down  as  though  to  rise  and  receive  me, 
but  before  he  could  do  so,  the  little  dog  sprang  through 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  343 

the  door,  and  leaped  into  his  arms.  Such  giadness,  such 
delight,  such  manifestations  of  joy!  The  prisoner  clasped 
the  little  animal  to  his  breast,  pressed  him  to  his  heart 
and  burst  into  tears,  as  he  said  in  broken  accents :  "  This 
is  the  only  living  thing  in  all  God's  green  earth  that 
loves  me."  That  scene  was  hallowed.  I  turned  my  face 
and  leaned  my  head  against  the  door  and  stood  silent, 
tears  of  sympathy  trickling  down  my  cheeks 

From  that  moment  I  believed  the  prisoner  inno- 
cent. I  resolved  to  save  him  if  he  could  be  saved,  and 
when  the  storm  of  grief  had  partially  subsided,  I  stepped 
forward  and  took  his  hand  in  mine,  and  jDressed  it  as  I 
would  have  done  the  hand  of  a  friend  in  misfortune. 

I  went  to  work  with  all  the  energy  of  my  mind,  and 
the  deep  enthusiasm  of  my  heart,  and  when  the  trial 
came  on,  I  pleaded  as  I  had  never  plead  before.  I  estab- 
lished his  innocence;  he  was  acquitted  and  became  a  use- 
ful, respected  citizen,  and  when  the  yellow  fever  broke 
out  there  in  the  summer  of  1876,  and  death  came  and 
knocked  at  every  door,  whenthousands  fell  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands fled  in  fright,  Charles  Edgar  Jones  remained.  Night 
and  day  he  could  be  seen  going  from  house  to  house,  a 
minister  of  peace,  an  alleviator  of  suffering,  until  at 
last  the  dreadful  messenger  of  death  laid  its  icy  fingers  upon 
his  brow.  He  died  and  his  body  was  laid  to  rest  beneath 
the  moss-covered  trees  of  far-famed  Bonaventure.  But 
methinks  when  his  soul  took  its  flight  from  the  shores  of 
time  upward  towards  the  Golden  Gates  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem, there  flashed  out  from  beneath  his  wings  a  light 
more  radiant  than  ever  burst  from  the  summer's  sun. 

As  Charles  mounted  his  horse,  Jim,  the  hostler,  said: 
"Uncle  Ben  is  jes'  gone  on  down  your  way,  Mars  Charles. 
He  waited  to  see  you,  but  said  he  was  bound  to  go  on. 
Thar  is  to  be  a  quiltin'  at  Dr.  Hall's  to-night,  and  Uncle 
Ben  is  gone  to  fetch  Lucy,  his  daughter,  home.  I  spec' 
you  will  overtake  him,  he  ain't  been  gone  long." 


344  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

"I  will  try  and  overtake  him ;  Jim,  but  if  I  don't  you 
tell  him  the  tombstones  were  set  up  in  the  graveyard  this 
morning,  and  that  the  enclosure  will  be  completed  by 
Saturday." 

*'  All  right,  Mars  Charles,  I'll  tell  him  and  mighty  glad 
I  know  he  will  be  to  hear  it." 

"  AVell,  good-night,  Jim," 

"  Good-night,  Mars  Charles ;  dat  horse  will  soon  take 
you  home  out  de  cold." 

Charles  touched  his  horse  with  the  spur  and  she 
bounded  away  in  a  canter.  He  rode  briskly  for  some- 
thing like  a  half  mile,  and  then  brought  his  mare  down 
to  a  steady  pace. 

Uncle  Ben  was  just  ahead  of  him  now,  though  it  was 
too  dark  for  them  to  see  each  other.  At  this  point  the 
road  was  narrow ;  there  were  a  few  trees  on  the  right, 
while  on  the  left  there  was  a  body  of  woods.  Ben  thought 
he  heard  the  sound  of  the  horse's  feet  coming,  and  stopped 
to  listen,  but  as  Charles  had  brought  his  horse  to  a  pace 
just  at  that  moment,  Ben  concluded  that  he  was  mistaken 
and  started  forward  again.  As  he  did  so,  a  dark  shadow 
glided  from  the  side  of  the  road  and  disappeared  in  the 
woods.  The  old  man  thought  he  saw  something  move, 
but  he  was  not  sure.  He  stopped,  looked,  listened  and 
then  muttering  to  himself,  said:  "I  reckon  I  was  mis- 
taken," and  so  walked  on. 

Charles  came  forward,  now  pacing  leisurely.  Ruler  fol- 
lowing a  little  distance  behind,  when  all  at  once  his  horse 
shied  to  the  left  and  sprang  forward,  and,  at  the  same  mo- 
ment he  felt  something  like  a  rope  strike  him  across  the 
chest  and  drag  him  from  the  saddle.  He  fell  heavily  to  the 
ground  somewhat  stunned  and  greatly  startled.  He  at- 
tempted to  rise  to  his  feet,  but  as  he  did  so  he  was  struck 
a  terrible  blow  across  the  shoulder ;  he  fell  back,  and  as  he 
fell  he  saw  the  shadow  of  a  man  bending  over  him  ; 
he  threw  up  his  arm  to  protect  his  head  from  a  second 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  345 

blow,  and,  as  he  thought,  caught  his  assailant  by  the  beard; 
he  gave  a  jerk,  hoping  to  bring  the  man  to  the  ground, 
and  thus  gain  time  to  get  to  his  feet,  but  whatever  it  was 
that  he  had  caught  gave  way  and  at  the  same  moment 
he  felt  the  cold  blade  of  a  knife  pierce  his  side,  and  the  hot 
blood  spurted  over  his  hand  as  he  threw  it  up  to  ward  off 
further  assault;  just  then  he  heard  one  quick  sharp 
yelp  and  saw  in  the  star-light  his  faithful  dog  drag  the 
assassin  to  the  ground.  Charles  staggered  to  his  feet 
greatly  stunned  and  now  bleeding  profusely.  At  this 
moment,  Uncle  Ben,  who  had  heard  the  fall  and  seen  the 
frightened  horse,  rushed  back  exclaiming,  ''What  is  the 
matter — for  God's  sake  what  is  the  matter?"  He  saw  the 
white  dog  struggling  with  something  in  the  road ;  he  saw 
Charles  stagger  and  fall  against  the  fence,  and  sprang  to 
his  side.  *'  Help  the  dog — help  the  dog,"  was  all  that 
diaries  could  say,  but  the  words  came  too  late ;  the  dog 
gave  one  cry  of  pain  and  rolled  over  on  his  side,  just  as  the 
assassin  sprang  to  his  feet  and  disappeared  in  the  wood. 
Uncle  Ben  happened  to  have  a  small  lantern  with  him, 
which  he  now  quickly  lighted.  He  found  Charles  badly 
bruised  about  the  head  and  shoulder,  with  a  deep  wound 
in  the  side  from  which  the  blood  was  flowing  freely. 
Uncle  Ben  tore  up  the  lining  of  his  coat,  and,  with  this 
and  Charles's  handkerchief,  made  a  bandage  the  best  he 
could  to  stop  the  bleeding,  but  he  was  afraid  to  leave 
Charles  in  his  present  condition  and  go  for  medical  aid 
lest  the  murderous  assailant  should  return  to  the  attack. 
What  was  he  to  do?  Charles  was  too  badly  hurt  to 
walk  ;  he  could  not  carry  him  so  far  by  himself;  he  could 
not  leave  him  to  go  for  aid.  The  good  old  man  fairly  wept 
with  grief  and  perplexity.  He  stood  for  a  moment  wring- 
ing his  hands,  not  knowing  what  to  do,  when,  Lo!  joy  of 
joys,  he  heard  voices  coming,  and  in  a  moment  some  of 
the  Grove  servants  who  had  been  to  the  quilting  camQ 
up. 


346  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

Poor,  brave,  faithful,  affectionate  Ruler !  He  still  lay  in 
the  road  where  he  fell,  now  almost  gone,  weltering  in  his 
heart's  blood.  He  had  received  a  terrible  gash  in  the 
chest ;  there  was  no  hope  for  him. 

Charles,  weak  as  he  was,  and  still  bleeding,  came  and 
stoojDed  by  the  side  of  his  dying  friend,  and  called  his 
name.  The  noble  animal  recognized  his  master's  voice, 
wagged  his  tail,  raised  his  head,  licked  the  hand  that 
caressed  him,  lay  back,  and  expired. 

Charles  was  taken  back  to  the  Grove,  Dr.  Hall  sum- 
moned, and  all  that  love  and  medical  skill  could  do  was 
done.  The  doctor  said  he  was  badl}^  wounded — seriously 
wounded,  though  his  injuries  were  not  necessarily  fatal — 
time  alone  could  tell.  Bright  and  early  the  next  morning 
the  whole  neighborhood  had  assembled  to  view  the  spot 
where  the  assault  was  made.  It  was  found  that  a  rope  had 
been  stretched  across  the  road,  tied  securely  to  two  trees,  so 
that  it  would  strike  a  person  riding,  about  the  chest  and 
drag  him  from  his  horse.  Just  where  Charles  fell  there 
was  found  a  heavy  stick,  and  near  it  a  suit  of  long,  white, 
false  whiskers  and  a  flowing  wig  to  match.  At  a  glance 
these  were  recognized  ae  the  beard  and  hair  of  the  mys- 
terious stranger,  domiciled  at  the  Kelley  cabin.  The 
cabin  was  searched.  The  stranger  was  gone.  The  mys- 
tery made  more  mysterious.  Not  a  thing  was  found  from 
which  to  start  the  trail. 

Mr.  Reed  was  telegraphed  for.  He  came  and  brought 
with  him  the  most  skilled  detectives.  Every  point  was 
tried;  every  suggestion  followed  up,  but  no  clue  could  be 
had.  The  mystery  was  profound.  Who  could  be  the 
enemy  of  Charles  Reed  ?  Who  could  deliberately  attempt 
to  take  his  life?     What  could  possibly  be  the  motive? 

There  was  but  one  person  in  all  the  world  that  even 
had  so  much  as  a  suspicion,  and  that  suspicion  had  so  lit- 
tle to  sustain  it.  Uncle  Ben  was  almost  ashamed  of  it  him- 
self.    Nevertheless,  he  told  it  in  confidence  to  the  detec- 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  S47 

tive  The  detective  got  from  Mr.  Reed  the  story  of  the 
haunted  house,  and  with  this  took  his  way  to  Washing- 
ton He  saw  the  hidy  wlio  owned  the  site  where  the  house 
had  stood,  ascertained  much  of  her  history,  but  she  knew 
of  no  one  having  lived  there  recently.  Her  son  was  up 
in  New  York— at  least  she  supposed  he  was ;  but  just 
where  she  could  not  tell.  ,,      ,        ,     .       t+- 

The  trail  might  have  been  followed  further,  but  politi- 
cal events  were  rushing  madly  to  a  climax,and  the  shrewd 
detective  was  called  off  the  track. 


/     \ 


CHAPTER  XXXIL 

A  SMALL  company  of  Federal  troops,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Major  Robert  Anderson,  garrisoned  the  forts 
in  Charleston  harbor  at  the  time  South  Carolina  seceded. 
Of  these  forts,  Fort  Moultrie  was  the  oldest,  though,  per- 
haps, the  weakest;  but  as  it  was  the  nearest  to  the  city,  it 
was  the  one  mainly  occupied  by  the  troops.  On  tlie  night 
of  the  26th  of  December,  just  six  days  after  the  secession 
of  South  Carolina,  Major  Anderson  transferred  his  entire 
command  to  Fort  Sumter,  taking  with  him  all  the  pro- 
visions he  had,  and  such  of  the  munitions  of  war  as  could 
be  transferred,  and  immediately  proceeded  to  put  the  fort 
in  the  best  condition  for  defensive  warfare  possible. 

Major  Anderson's  action  was  notanticipated  in  Charles- 
ton, and  was  greatly  complained  of  by  the  State  au- 
thorities as  a  breach  of  good  faith  on  the  part  of  the 
Federal  Administration,  President  Buchanan  having 
promised  that  the  status  of  military  affairs  should  not 
be  changed  without  due  notice. 

This  move  of  Major  Anderson  sent  a  thrill  of  horror 
through  the  heart  of  every  Union-loving  patriot.  North 
and  South.  It  was  regarded  as  the  initiation  of  armed 
strife,  and  greatly  feared  as  the  first  wave  that  would 
roll  to  a  sea  of  fraternal  blood. 

The  Secretary  of  War,  the  Hon.  John  B.  Floyd,  of 
Virginia,  urged  the  President  to  order,  or  allow  him  to 
order.  Major  Anderson  back  to  Fort  Moultrie,  and  as- 
serted as  his  reason  that  he  had  promised  South  Car- 
olina that  no  change  should  be  made  in  the  disposition 
of  the  Federal  troops  in  the  Charleston  harbor  without 
notice  being  given.  He  plead  that  the  promise  had  been 
(348) 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  849 

given  with  the  President's  knowledge,  and  he  now  asked 
that  lie  might  vindicate  his  honor,  which  could  but  suf- 
fer as  things  then  stood.  He  insisted  that  the  honor  of 
the  Federal  Government  would  suffer  by  the  move,  and 
that  every  principle  of  good  faith  demanded  it,  and  he 
earnestly  advocated  good  faith  as  the  only  means  that 
could  save  the  Union  and  prevent  civil  war.  He  as- 
sured the  President  that  the  condition  of  the  fort  was 
such  that  it  could  not  be  held  against  an  attack,  and  the 
presence  of  the  garrison  there,  under  the  circumstances, 
could  only  serve  to  exasperate  and  inflame  the  Southern 
mind.  He  gave  as  an  additional  reason,  that  the  fort 
was  short  of  provisions,  and  could  only  hold  out  a  few 
weeks  at  best,  and  that  under  existing  circumstances 
South  Carolina  could  not  and  would  not  allow  the  fort  to 
be  reinforced  or  provisioned,  and  that  any  attempt  to  do 
so  would  meet  with  armed  resistance,  and  precipitate  the 
country  into  disastrous  war.  But  his  pleading  was  in 
vain.  The  President,  no  doubt  influenced  by  the  Repub- 
can  press,  which  cried,  "Hold  the  Fort!"  in  a  spirit  of 
vacillation  and  indecision,  declined,  or  what  is  nearer  the 
truth,  neglected  to  give  or  allow  the  order  to  be  given  ;  so 
Mr.  Floyd,  on  the  29th,  in  order  to  vindicate  his  per- 
sonal reputation,  tendered  his  resignation  and  left  the 
Cabinet. 

On  the  26th  of  December  South  Carolina  sent  a  Spe- 
cial Commission  to  Washington  to  urge  the  evacuation 
of  the  forts  in  the  Charleston  harbor,  and  further  to  nego- 
tiate with  the  General  Government  concerning  all  pub- 
lic property  situated  within  the  State  ;  but  to  this  Com- 
mission no  satisfactory  or  even  definite  answer  was 
given. 

On  the  5th  of  January  the  steamer  Star  of  the  "West 
left  New  York  on  a  secret  mission.  On  the  6th,  Secretary 
Thompson,  of  the  Interior  Department,  having  learned 
at  a  Cabinet  meeting  that  the  destination  of  the  vessel  was 


350  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

for  the  Charleston  harbor,  and  that  her  mission  was  tc 
reinforce  and  provision  Fort  Sumter,  immediately  tele- 
graphed the  facts  to  the  State  authorities  of  South  Caro- 
lina and  resigned  his  office,  alleging  as  his  reason  that  the 
attempt  to  reinforce 'Fort  Sumter,  under  the  circumstances, 
was  a  violation  of  the  Executive  promise  and  an  act  dis. 
honorable  to  the  whole  Administration. 

On  the  9th  of  January,  the  Star  of  the  West,  with  250 
soldiers  and  ample  provisions  on  board,  appeared  off  the 
harbor  at  Charleston  and  attempted  to  pass  up  the  chan- 
nel to  Fort  Sumter;  but  she  was  fired  upon  from  Fort 
Moultrie  and  a  battery  on  Morris  Island,  and,  having  been 
struck  by  a  shot,  drew  off  and  returned  to  New  York. 

Thus  matters  stood  during  the  rest  of  Mr.  Buchanan's 
administration.  Virginia  aud  the  other  border  slave  States 
had  continued  to  do  and  to  say  all  that  patriotism  could 
suggest,  or  hope  inspire,  to  roll  back  the  waves  of  civil  war 
and  save  the  Union. 

We  have  seen  with  what  ridicule  and  derision  these 
earnest  efforts  and  patriotic  endeavors  were  greeted  by  the 
Republicans  of  the  North,  and  how  these  efforts  were  sec- 
onded and  encouraged  'by  many  of  the  best  men  of  that 
section.  On  the  4tli  of  March,  1861,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in- 
augurated President  of  the  United  States.  The  whole 
country  stood  a-tip-toe  in  breathless  anxiety  and  painful 
suspense  waiting  to  hear  what  be  would  say  ;  to  see  what 
he  would  do.  In  the  hands  of  this  one  man  the  fate  of 
the  whole  country  now  rested.  On  his  way  from  Spring- 
field, Illinois,  to  Washington,  he  made  many  so-called 
"conservative  speeches,"  if  a  spirit  of  non-committal  and 
evasion  can  be  considered  conservative.  He  used  the 
pithy  phrase,  and  repeated  it, "  No  body  is  hurt,"  until  it 
became  a  proverb  and  a  pass-word,  and  it  went  the  rounds 
of  the  press  in  derision.  At  Philadelphia  he  declared 
"  that  there  is  no  occasion  for  the  shedding  of  blood  ;  no 
necessity  for  war,"  and  then,  with   emphasis,  he  added, 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  351 

"I  am  not  in  favor  of  it;  the  Government  will  only  act 
on  the  defensive." 

Such  language,  if  we  are  to  judge  by  his  subsequent 
action,  was  either  insincere  or  intended  as  the  language 
of  contempt  for  the  then  six  seceded  States,  either  of 
which  was  unworthy  of  the  President  elect  of  a  great  peo- 
ple, and  certainly  unworthy  of  the  manhood  and  the 
moral  courage  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  so  eminently  displayed  in 
his  after  life ;  for  if  moral  courage  ever  did  reach  the  sub- 
lime, it  did  so  in  the  life  and  character  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln. 

Yet,  despite  this  language,  despite  these  assurances, 
despite  this  conservatism,  Mr.  Lincoln  by  his  own  act 
contradicted  the  opinions  expressed  as  to  hoped-for  peace, 
for  hardly  had  the  echoes  of  the  language  quoted  died 
away  in  the  distance,  before  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  secret  and  in 
silence,  if  not  in  actual  disguise,  as  some  have  stated,  un- 
known and  unsuspected  passed  through  the  city  of  Balti- 
more on  his  way  to  Washington. 

His  inaugural, too,  was  no  less  non-committal,  so  much 
so  that  even  Horace  Greeley — the  most  rampant  Eepub- 
lican  of  the  Abolition  school — was  constrained  to  say, 
"that  the  habitual  tone  of  this  most  remarkable  paper  is 
deprecator}^  not  to  say  apologetic."  So  non-committal 
that  the  Virginia  Convention,  which  was  then  still  in  ses- 
sion, sent  a  special  commissioner  to  Washington  to  wait 
upon  the  President  and  learn  of  him  personally,  what 
policy  the  Federal  Executive  intended  to  pursue  in  re- 
gard to  the  seceded  States. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  in  1848,  as  has  been  before  stated,  had 
said  that,  "any  people,  any  where, being  inclined  and  hav- 
ing the  power,  have  the  right  to  rise  up  and  shake  off  the 
existing  government  and  to  form  a  new  one,  that  suits 
them  better ; "  "this,"  he  said, "  is  a  most  valuable  right — 
a  sacred  right — a  right  which  he  hoj^ed  and  believed  is 
to  liberate  the  world;"  "nor,"  said  he,  "  is  this  right  con- 


i^52  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

fined  to  cases  in  which  the  whole  people  of  the  existing 
government  may  choose  to  exercise  it ;  for  any  portion 
of  such  people  that  can,  may  revolutionize  and  make 
their  own  government  of  so  much  of  the  territory  as  they 
may  inhabit.  "Such,"  he  said,  "  was  precisely  the  case  of 
our  own  glorious  Revolution." 

In  his  inaugural  he  said,  ^^If  by  the  mere  force  of 
numbers  a  majority  should  deprive  a  minority  of  any 
constitutional  right,  in  a  moral  sense  it  certainly  would 
justify  revolution," 

Mr.  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  of  Illinois,  sometimes  styled 
"the  Little  Giant,"  and  sometimes  "the  Webster  of  the 
West,"  had,  just  before  this  inaugural,  said  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  in  regard  to  the  policy  which  the  Federal 
Executive  should  pursue  towards  the  Confederate  States, 
"We  certainly  cannot  justify  the  holding  of  forts  there, 
much  less  the  recapturing  of  those  which  have  been 
taken ;  we  cannot  deny  that  there  is  a  Confederacy  de 
facto  in  existence,  with  its  capital  at  Montgomery ;  we 
regret  it ;  I  regret  it  most  profoundly,  but  I  cannot  deny 
the  truth,  painful  and  mortifying  as  it  is." 

No  wonder,  then,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  undecided, 
evasive  and  non-committal,  if  he  felt  uneasy  of  the  ground 
on  which  he  stood ;  but  he  might  at  least  have  been  can- 
did, or  kept  his  silence. 

The  plain  facts,  coupled  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  record 
that  had  gone  to  the  world,  taken  together  with  the  open 
and  boldly  expressed  opinion  of  such  men  as  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  Horatio  Seymour  and  Daniel  Webster,  made 
the  question  of  coercion  doubtful,  not  only  as  regards 
power  and  policy,  but  also  as  to  morals. 

If  the  Resolutions  of  '98  and  '99,  were  a  true  exposi- 
tion of  the  principles  of  the  Federal  Government — if  Mr. 
Jefferson,  who  wrote  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
and  who  also  wrote  the  Resolutions  of  '98  and  '99,  and 
upon  them  as  a  party  platform,  was  elected  to  the  Presi- 


YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE.  353 

dency,  knew  anything  of  the  principles  of  the  Federal 
Government — if  the  Senators  of  the  United  States,  who 
voted  for  and  passed  the  Calhoun  Resolutions  of  1838, 
knew  anything  of  the  pn'inciples  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment— if  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  in  1844,  when 
it  passed  the  resolution  promulgating  the  right  of  disso- 
lution, knew  anything  of  the  principles  of  the  Federal 
Government — if  Daniel  Webster,  -when  he  spoke  at  Capon 
Springs,  in  1851,  knew  anything  of  the  principles  of 
the  Federal  Government — if  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  in  18G0,  when  it  passed  the  Jefferson  Davis  reso- 
lutions, knew  anything  of  the  principles  of  the  Federal 
Government — if  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
in  185G,  when  it  decided  the  Dred  Scott  case,  knew  any- 
thing of  the  principles  of  the  Federal  Government — if 
the  Albany  Convention  and  the  men  of  the  Philadelphia 
mass-meeting  knew  anything  of  the  principles  of  the 
Federal  Government — if  Mr.  Buchanan,  when  he  penned 
his  last  message  to  Congress,  in  which  he  said,  "  there 
was  no  constitutional  right  of  coercion",  knew  anything 
of  the  principles  of  the  Federal  Government — if  Jeremiah 
S.  Black,  the  Attorney-General,  when  he  rendered  his  ofTi- 
cial  opinion  to  Congress  declaring  that  coercion  would  be 
unconstitutional,  and,  ijoso  facto,  work  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union,  knew  anythhig  of  the  principles  of  the  Federal 
Government — if  ]\Ir.  Lincoln  proposed  in  the  policy  of 
his  administration  to  be  governed  by  principles  and  not 
power;  if  he  knew  the  history  of  his  country  from  the 
(lays  of  Jefferson  to  the  nights  of  old  John  Brown ;  if  he 
was  aware  that  thirteen  of  the  Northern  States  had  delib- 
erately passed  acts  in  contravention  of  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States  in  the  matter  of  fugitive  slaves;  if  he 
endorse  1  the  sentiments  of  Governor  Chase,  as  expressed 
in  the  Poaco  Conferenco,  declaring  that  the  Republican 
party  would  not  and  could  not  obey  the  canstitution  as  it 
was  written ;  if  ]\Ir.  Lincoln  was  sincere  in  1848,  v/hen  he 


354  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

advocated  the  sacred  right  of  revolution  ;  if  he  was  sin- 
cere when  he  wrote  and  delivered  his  inaugural  asserting 
the  moral  right  of  secession  ifthe  majority  should  deprive 
a  minority  of  any  constitutional  right;  if  moral  right 
with  him  was  to  take  precedence  over  brute  force  and  phy- 
sical power  and  the  scales  of  justice  were  to  be  hung  from 
the  pillars  of  heaven,  then,  indeed,  did  Mr.  Lincoln 
have  ample  reason  for  being  doubtful  and  non-commit- 
tal as  regarded  his  purpose  of  coercion. 

These  remarks  are  not  here  intended  by  the  narrator 
as  a  criticism  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  moral  character,  for  it  is 
respected,  de  mortuis  nihil  sine  bonum,  nor  is  this  language 
offered  to  the  public  perusal  in  a  spirit  of  sectional  preju- 
dice, but  only  to  show  the  ground  upon  which  the  South 
founded  its  firm  opinion  as  regarded  the  constitutional 
right  of  secession. 

If,  then,  the  people  were  right  when  they  elected  Mr. 
Jefferson  President  in  ISOO;  if  they  were  right  in  1808 
when  they  elected  Mr.  Madison ;  if  the  Senate  was 
right  in  1838;  if  Massachusetts  was  right  in  1844; 
if  Mr.  Lincoln  was.  right  in  1848;  if  Mr.  Webster 
was  right  in  1851;  if  the  Senate  again  was 'right  in 
1860;  if  President  Buchanan  and  A'.torney- General 
Black  and  Senator  Douglas  were  right  in  18G1 ;  if  the 
Philadelphia  mass-meeting  and  the  Albany  Convention 
were  right,  then  coercion  was  wrong,  and  the  men  who 
died  defending  the  cause  they  believed  to  be  just,  ought 
not  to  be  stigmatized  as  traitors ;  nor  should  the  men 
who  risked  their  lives  in  a  vain  endeavor  to  uphold  the 
principles  they  believed  to  be  sacred  be  branded  as  rebels 
and  outlaws  simply  because  they  failed.  The  grandest 
men  the  world  has  ever  known  were  traitors  in  some 
one's  eye.  Brutus  was  a  traitor  when  he  lifted  his  hand 
against  the  life  of  Ccesar.  Tell  was  a  traitor  when  he 
hid  the  arrow  intended  for  Gessler's  heart.  Emmet  was  a 
traitor  when  he  attempted  his  country's  freedom.    Crom- 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  856 

well  was  a  traitor  when  he  Sent  Charles  I  io  the  scaffold. 
Henry  was  a  traitor  when  he  shouted  "  Give  me  liberty 
or  give  me  death."  Washington  was  a  traitor  when  his 
gleaming  sword  flashed  in  the  sunlight  of  American 
freedom,  and  Benjamin  Franklin  was  a  traitor  even  while 
the  good  old  man  knelt  in  prayer. 

So,  after  all,  it  seems  'tis  no  disgrace  to  be  a  traitor; 
the  disgrace  consists  not  in  the  act,  but  in  the  failure. 
Thad.  Stevens  thought  Robert  E.  Lee  a  traitor  who 
should  have  been  hung.  The  world  shudders  at  such  a 
judgment.  Eobert  E.  Lee  followed  the  dictates  of  an  en- 
lightened mind,  patriotic  heart  and  Christian  conscience. 
Stonewall  Jackson  was  denounced  as  a  traitor  by  Charles 
Sumner.  The  shield  of  protection  to  which  Jackson 
looked  was  the  grace  of  God ;  the  invocation  was  deep 
and  earnest  prayer.  Lee  and  Jackson  may  have  been 
wrong,  and  Stevens  and  Sumner  right,  but  the  names  of 
Robert  E.  Lee  and  Stonewall  Jackson  will  live  in  the  land 
of  poesy  and  song,  and  will  shine  in  the  bright  light  of 
immortal  glory,  long  after  the  names  of  Stevens  and  Sum- 
ner shall  have  paled  and  perished  amid  the  shades  of 
oblivion. 

I  plead  a  truce  to  the  term  traitor,  to  the  offensive  word 
rebellion.  If  kindred  and  countrymen  we  are  to  be,  let 
the  veil  of  charity  fall  and  hide  the  wounds  that  have 
been  inflicted.  Each  one  fought,  as  each  one  thought,for 
his  country  and  for  his  right. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

NEARLY  four  weeks  had  passed  since  that  cruel  night 
attack  was  made  on  Charles  Reed's  life.  When  Un- 
cle Ben  got  him  to  the  Grove  he  had  bled  profusely,  and  was 
almost  gone.  The  wound  was  deep,  and  while  no  large 
artery  was  cut,  many  small  veins  were  severed,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  keep thebandages  well  in  place,  while  Charles 
was  being  borne  along,  half  walking,  half  carried.  Dr. 
Hall  had  been  summoned  and  came  quickly,  but  the  great 
loss  of  blood  had  so  reduced  the  temperature  of  the  body 
it  was  feared  that  congestion  of  the  wound  would  take  place. 
He  was  dreadfully  chilled,  and  sliivered  in  every  limb. 
Hot  drinks  were  given  him,  and  mustard  applications 
placed  about  his  extremities,  and  as  these  took  effect  he 
became  more  comfortable,  and  gradually  yielded  to  phys- 
ical weakness  and  passed  into  lieavy  sleep. 

Again  we  must  pass  over  in  silence,  to  some  extent,  the 
pain  and  anguish  of  Helen's  heart.  Women  are  weak 
in  some  things,  but  they  are  strong  in  others.  They  will 
scream  at  a  movise,  but  they  will  face  the  lion  in  defense 
of  one  they  love;  and  just  so,  when  they  told  Helen  she 
must  be  calm  if  she  would  see  Charles — though  her 
nerves  were  tingling  with  excitement,  though  her  heart 
was  bursting  with  pain,  though  her  bosom  was  heaving 
with  wild  emotions,  and  her  eyes  streaming  with  tears — 
for  his  sake  she  brushed  those  tears  from  her  cheeks, 
pressed  her  heart  with  her  hands  to  stop  its  throbbing,  and 
went  calmly  to  his  berlsidec  She  knolt  beside  liis  couch, 
took  liis  liand  and  laid  it  upon  hor  ])ren«t,  pushed  back 
the  liair  from  his  forehead,  and  said,  "JMy  noble,  brave 
boyi"  Charles  tried  to  snenk,  but  his  heart  was  full^ 
(356) 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  357^ 

moved  by  the  tender  caress.  She  saw  the  effort;  sawhislips 
tremble  and  his  €}■  es  fill.  She  felt  her  heart  almost  burst- 
mg,  but  for  his  sake  she  must  be  brave.  She  said  no  fur- 
ther word,  but  her  face  passed  to  a  sweet  smile,  and  she 
laid  her  lips  on  his — Love's  first  kiss — the  first  kiss  she 
had  ever  given  him.  It  was  hallowed — it  was  love's  offer- 
ing, not  passion's  pleasure.  The  dews  of  Heaven  are  not 
so  pure.     The  breath  of  flowers  is  not  so  sweet. 

The  next  day  Charles  was  worse.  Symptoms  of  pneu- 
monia appeared,  and  painful  suspense  was  turned  to 
dreadful  alarm.  As  the  day  wore  on  the  terrible  disease 
was  more  fully  developed,  and  the  case  became  critical 
in  the  extreme.  Charles  soon  became  dolirious,  and  all 
could  see  that  his  life  hung,  as  it  were,  by  a  iiair. 

Helen  was  his  constant  nurse;  she  seldom  left  his  bed- 
side; she  saw  every  change  of  his  countenance;  she 
watched  every  expression  of  his  face;  she  observed 
every  motion  of  his  hands,  and  love  was  there  to  di- 
vine and  administer  to  his  needs  and  wants.  His 
heavy  groans  seemed  to  go  to  her  very  heart  and  to  pierce 
her  soul ;  still  she  did  not  give  way  to  her  feelings,  for 
she  felt,if  nursing  would  save  him,  he  must  be  saved.  lie 
knew  no  one,  but  lie  often  called  her  name,  and  seemed 
to  recognize  her  voice,  and  would  grow  cahn  under  its 
soothing  influence.  Sometimes  he  slept,  and  at  such 
moments  Helen  would  slip  from  her  chair  to  her  knees 
by  his  bed-side  and  pour  out  her  heart  to  God  in  fervent 
prayer,  invoking  divine  aid  in  the  preservation  of  his 
life.  She  believed  in  prayer;  she  believed  in  God's 
mercy;  she  believed  in  the  help  of  ministering  angels, 
and  in  her  heart  she  felt  her  faith  strong,  that  deep,  earn- 
est, fervent  prayer  wafted  upward  from  the  depths  of  the 
soul  will  be  heard  and  answered  in  heaven. 

All  that  skill  could  do  was  done;  all  that  love  could 
suggest  was  accomplished,  still  the  dreadful  disease 
would  not  yield.     Days  and   nights  passed  away,  but 


858  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

there  was  no  change,  except  the  wasting  of  the  body  and 
the  gradual  loss  of  strength,  until  what  was  once  a  strong 
robust  manly  form  was  now  but  a  simple  skeleton.  It 
seemed  that  the  end  was  drawing  nigh,  the  death-rattle 
was  in  his  throat;  his  arms  lay  limp  at  his  side;  his 
eyes  were  dull  and  void  of  expression ;  his  breathing 
slow  and  labored.    Still  he  lived. 

Oh !  who  can  tell  the  agonies  of  a  loving  heart  watching 
the  last  struggle  between  life  and  death.  Oh !  how  the  soul 
can  then  go  up,  pleading — pleading — pleading — "Spare 
him — spare  him,  Oh !  my  God.     Give  him  back  to  me." 

The  twenty-seventh  day  had  arrived,  the  last  hope 
seemed  faded.  The  climax  had  been  reached — the  pa- 
tient passed  to  a  quiet  sleep.  The  good  old  doctor  took 
Helen's  hand  and  told  her  to  be  brave,  to  be  strong,  to 
remember  if  she  must  lose,  that  her  loss  would  be  his 
eternal  gain.  He  told  her  "  that  sleep  will  decide  the 
issue.  He  will  be  conscious  if  he  ever  awakes — one 
hour  more  you  will  know  the  worst — let  no  sound  be 
heard — to  awake  him  is  certain  death.  Go  watch  at  his 
side;  if  he  opens  his  eyes  give  him  this.  Go  pray  God 
to  spare  our  friend." 

The  good  old  man  passed  from  the  room.  Helen  sank 
to  her  knees,  her  eyes  were  streaming  with  tears,  but  no 
quiver  shook  her  frame.  She  scarcely  breathed  for  fear 
she  would  awake  him.  Slowly  the  moments  passed 
away ;  he  lay  so  still  it  seemed  death  itself.  She  praj^ed 
as  she  had  never  prayed  before.  Her  heart  was  break- 
ing, but  still  she  believed  in  God ;  she  believed  in  his 
mercy ;  slie  believed  in  his  goodness,  in  his  wisdom,  in 
his  protecting  care.  She  clasped  her  hands  and  stretched 
her  arms  high  above  her  head,  looked  upward  with  the 
eye  of  faith,  and  breathed  the  words  "Thy  will,  not 
mine;  Oh !  God,  my  heavenly  Father." 

She  turned  to  look  at  i\e  sleeper;  his  lips  moved  ;  he 
turned  his  head  to  one  side ;  his  eyes  opened ;  he  was 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  359 

conscious ;  a  smile  lit  up  his  face ;  he  knew  that  it  was 
his  own  sweet  Helen  kneeling  there.  She  could  not 
speak,  her  heart  was  too  full ;  her  whole  soul  was  shaken 
with  emotion ;  she  felt  it  necessar}'-  for  his  sake  to  still  be 
brave,  to  control  her  feelings.  Her  left  hand  lay  con- 
fidingly in  his;  she  smoothed  back  his  hair  from  his 
brow;  his  fever  was  gone;  their  eyes  met;  their  hearts 
responded ;  their  souls  mingled  as  one  stream.  He  was 
the  first  to  speak,  "  My  sunbeam — light  of  my  life." 
Her  face  beamed  with  rapturous  joy ;  she  was  happy ; 
she  did  not  hide  it;  she  said  nothing;  she  only  smiled 
and  laid  her  finger  on  her  lips,  then  bent  her  head  and 
kissed  his  brow.  He  understood — it  was  necessary  that 
he  bo  silent.  She  gave  him  the  medicine,  then  passed 
out  of  the  room  to  summon  the  doctor.  Thank  heaven, 
our  friend  is  safe,  he  will  soon  be  convalescent  now,  and 
light  and  life  and  love  will  once  again  crown  the  hones 
of  sweet  Helen  Moore. 

Another  week  had  passed,  and  Charies  was  in  tnai 
happy  state  of  convalescence.  He  had  been  deathly  sick, 
but  now  that  he  was  fast  recovering,  the  world  seemed 
brighter,  hope  seemed  more  hopeful,  life  seemed  sweeter, 
happiness  more  happy,  and  even  love  more  lovely.  The 
spirit  at  such  moments  seems  to  have  wings,  and  the 
heart  is  inflated  with  joy,  while  the  soul  seems  to  rise  and 
float  away  through  the  realms  of  purer  air  into  a  brighter 
light  and  more  lasting  peace. 

Helen  was  beside  him,  and  he  felt  her  presence  as  the 
sunlight  of  his  heart.  He  loved  his  father ;  he  loved  his 
friends;  beloved  his  home;  he  loved  his  country;  he 
loved  his  profession ;  but  the  sum  of  all  these  loves  could 
not  equal  that  love  he  bore  for  his  promised  bride — the 
chaste,  sweet  Helen  INIoore.  To  him  this  love  was  joy 
and  gladness,  peace  and  comfort  and  happiness ;  all  that 
the  heart  can  feel  that  is  sweet,  all  that  the  soul  re- 
quires. 


360  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

He  lay  on  his  low  bed  holding  both  her  hands  in  his; 
she  sat  on  a  cushioned  stool  leaning  her  elbows  on  his 
couch,  looking  in  his  face,  watching  his  expressive  eyes 
and  chatting  away  as  only  a  lovely  woman  can  chat. 
Shy  and  timid  and  coy,  yet  hiding  nothing ;  bright  and 
glad  and  happ}^,  yet  in  words  nothing  revealing ;  blush- 
ing and  bashful  and  modest,  yet  nothing  concealing. 
Woman's  fascination,  attraction  and  charm — everything 
in  heart  and  feeling,  nothing  in  words. 

She  chatted  away  to  entertain  him,  laughing  and 
smiling,  all  gay  in  her  gladness,  she  told  the  story  of  con- 
tentment. She  bent  on  him  eyes  of  affection  and  revealed 
the  trust  of  her  soul.  She  chided  him  with  sweet  lij^s  half 
pouting ;  he  had  foiled  her  on  their  wedding  day.  "  No, 
no ;  no,  no,"  she  said ;  "  the  mice  have  eaten  the  cake." 
"No,  no;  no,  no,"  she  laughed;  "the  flowers  have  faded  and 
gone."  "No,  no;  no,  no,"  she  smiled,  and  her  lips 
caressed  his  brow.  "  I'll  hunt  me  another  lover  that  won't 
run  out  in  the  cold." 

Ah!  my  gentle  reader,  the  world  can  never  know  what 
true  love  is.  'Tis  not  of  earth,  it  belongs  to  heaven. 
'Tis  like  the  glory  of  that  better  land.  The  heart  may 
feel  its  bliss  and  joy,  but  words  can  never  express  it. 

Oh !  Vv'hat  a  comfort  to  a  good  man  is  the  love  of  a  good 
woman ;  she  can  help  him  when  all  else  has  failed  ;  she 
can  lift  him  up  when  he  is  deeply  cast  down ;  she  can  en- 
courage him  when  his  heart  is  hopeless  ;  she  can  make  it 
light  in  the  gloom  of  despair.  From  the  mud  and  the 
mire,  from  the  shadows  and  the  shades,  from  danger  and 
from  darkness,  from  sorrow  and  from  care,  she  can  lift 
him  up  and  place  his  feet  upon  a  rock  that  will  stand 
firm  when  the  earth  heaves  and  the  hills  tremble  with : 
.emotion.. 


CHAPTEK  XXXIV. 

ON  a  sick  bed  at  the  St.  James  Hotel,  in  Washington, 
lay  a  young  man,  his  hands  torn,  his  face  cut,  his  arms 
and  chest  frightfully  lacerated.  He  came  to  the  city  on 
the  morning  train;  registered  at  the  hotel  as  James 
Smith,  of  Baltimore ;  sent  for  a  doctor ;  slipped  some  gold 
pieces  into  his  hand  and  said,  "  Take  care  of  me,  there  is 
more  where  that  came  from;"  gave  Ihe  waiter  at  the 
hotel  a  five  dollar  bill, and  said,  ''Wait  on  me  while  I  am 
here;  my  horse  threw  me  while  riding  in  a  fox-chase; 
my  foot  was  hung  in  the  stirrup  ;  I  was  dragged  a  con- 
siderable distance,and,  as  you  see,  badly  hurt."  Those  who 
are  well  paid  generally  do  as  they  are  told,  unless  some 
inducement  is  oftered  to  the  contrary.  The  doctor  had 
had  his  fee;  the  waiter  his  perquisite;  the  proprietor 
his  bill  in  advance  and  all  had  strong  expectations  of 
more;  M'hy  should  they  ask  questions  or  talk  unless  talked 
to?  The  newspapers  were  read,  but  nothing  appeared 
which  they  saw,  the  least  suggestive,  so  the  matter  passed 
and  in  due  time  the  young  man  left. 

During  his  stay  he  was  often  nervous  and  restless ;  not 
from  his  wounds — these  he  bore  with  stoic  fortitude  ;  it 
was  some  mental  care,  some  dread  or  anxiety  of  mind 
that  broke  his  rest„  Each  day  he  sent  the  waiter  out  and 
had  him  purchase  copies  of  all  the  Virginia  papers.  He 
read  them  but  little,  but  he  looked  at  the  heading  of  every 
article;  he  could  not  find  what  he  wanted,  or  it  may  be 
what  he  did  not  want.  Was  Charles  Reed  living  or  dead  ? 
If  dead,  would  the  blood-hounds  of  the  law  follow  the 
trail?  He  shuddered  at  the  thought;  he  grew  cold  as 
death  at  the  bare  idea;  he  could  find  out, no  doubt,  if  he 
(301) 


362  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

could  only  get  his  mail,  but  to  ask  for  that  mail  might 
start  a  story.  "No,"  he  said,  "let  that  be;  I  can  better  wait; 
but  if  dead,"  he  said,  "  William  Dodge  will  find  the  field 
clear  for  his  purposes  ;  William  Dodge  will  then  have  no 
co-executor  ;  tliat  will,  ah !  that  ivill — it  will  place  every 
thing  in  case  of  the  death  of  Charles  Reed  in  the  hands 
of  William  Dodge ;  the  proud  beauty  can  then  be  humbled ; 
that  vast  estate  turned  to  good  account." 

Some  one  knocked  at  the  door ;  the  sick  man's  heart 
leaped  up  to  his  throat.  "  The  detectives !"  he  thought 
they  were  coming.  Oh  1  the  agonies  of  guilty  fear ;  oh  I 
the  horrors  of  an  accusing  conscience.  Every  stranger 
seems  a  detective ;  every  sound  the  cry  of  pursuit ;  every 
sigh  of  the  winds  the  whisper  of  suspicion  ;  every  door 
a  trap  standing  ready  set  to  catch  the  trembling  soul. 

Time  passed  and  no  detectives  came  ;  time  passed  and 
the  wounds  healed ;  time  passed  and  the  so-called  James 
Smith,  of  Baltimore,  ventured  forth.  He  soon  learned 
that  Charles  Reed  was  still  alive ;  he  soon  ascertained 
that  there  was  no  suspicion  at  the  Abbey  as  to  the  guilty 
party.  Mr.  Reed  had  written,  giving  an  account  of  the 
mysterious  man  of  the  Kelley  cabin ;  the  midnight  at- 
tack ;  the  dreadful  wound ;  noble  action  of  the  dog ;  his 
death  ;  the  timely  arrival  of  Uncle  Ben.  At  the  mention 
of  that  name  the  so-called  James  Smith  ground  his  teeth 
with  rage  and  clutched  the  air  like  a  maniac,  and  cursed 
the  name  of  the  old  negro  with  the  bitterest  and  most 
blasphemous  curses  that  a  fiendish  heart  could  conceive. 
The  letter  continued,  told  of  the  long  severe  spell  of  sick- 
ness; the  present  convalescence;  the  political  situation  in 
Virginia,  and  finally  of  the  postponement  of  the  marriage 
between  Charles  and  Helen  and  closed  with  an  invita- 
tion to  visit  the  Abbey. 

This  letter  was  quickly  answered.  The  answer  was 
mailed  m  New  York.  It  rotated  tho  great  regret  and  pain 
felt  by  William  Dodge  for  Charles  Reed  in  his  misfortune; 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 


hanked  his  friends  for  the  kind  invitation  to  visit  Vir- 
•inia  again  ;  expressed  regrets  that  he  could  not  come  just 
hen  and  gave  as  a  reason,  confidentially,  that  he  had 

difficulty  ^ith  a  young  German  up  in  Canada  which 
esulted  in  a  duel  with  foils;  stated  that  he  had  wounded 
lis  antagonist  quite  severely  in  the  side  and  that  he  him- 
elf  was  right  badly  scratched  about  the  hands  and  face, 
ind  that  it  was  perhaps  best  for  him  to  keep  out  of  the 
vav  until  the  matter  was  forgotten.  Mr.  James  Smith, 
,f  Baltimore,  thought  that  this  most  plausible  story  might 
lome  day  help  to  account  for  the  scars  which  it  was  evi- 
lent  would  be  left  on  the  face  of  William  Dodge. 

Charles  Reed  could  give  no  information  as  to  the  iden- 
;ity  of  his  assailant.  He  could  not  think  that  he  had  an 
memyin  the  world,  so  he,  like  all  the  rest,  concluded 
ihat  robbery  was  the  motive  of  the  assault  and  there  the 
matter  rested. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

ON  the  12th  of  March,  1861,  commissioners  represent- 
ing the  Montgomery  Confederacy  arrived  in  Wash- 
ington and  immediately  made  known  their  mission  by 
sending  to  the  Secretary  of  War  a  communication,  which, 
among  other  tilings,  said,  "  That  the  commissioners  had 
come  with  a  view  to  a  sjDcedy  adjustment  of  all  questions 
growing  out  of  the  political  separation,  upon  such  terms 
of  amity  and  good  will  as  the  respective  interests  and 
future  welfare  of  the  two  sections  may  render  necessary; 
that  it  is  neither  their  interest  nor  their  wish  to  make 
any  demands  which  are  not  founded  in  strict  justice,  nor 
to  do  any  act  to  injure  their  late  confederates." 

All  parties  understood  that  the  more  especial  object  of 
this  commission  was  to  negotiate  for  the  evacuation  of 
Fort  Sumter,  of  which  Mr.  Douglas  had  said,  **We  can- 
not justify  the  holding."  No  written  reply  was  made  to 
this  communication  for  some  time.  Bat  Judge  John  A. 
Campbell,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States, had  a  personal  interview  with  the  Secretary 
of  War,  after  which  Judge  Campbell  felt  justified  in  say- 
ing, and  did  say,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  commission- 
ers, "  I  feel  entire  confidence  that  Fort  Sumter  will  be 
evacuated  within  the  next  ten  days." 

Judge  Campbell  then  urged  the  commissioners  not  to 
press  for  an  immediate  answer  to  their  communication, 
and  gave  as  his  reason  that  such  a  demand  would  be  pro- 
ductive of  evil  consequences.  The  object  of  Judge  Camp- 
bell was  to  prevent  any  clash,  either  of  sentiment  or  of 
arms,  and  to  aid  Virginia  in  her  efforts  towards  concilia- 
tion. The  commissioners  were  kept  waiting  at  Washing- 
(364) 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  365 

ton,  trusting  in  hope,  but  without  further  answer  to  their 
communication,  until  the  13th  of  April — just  one  month 
and  one  day — at  which  time  Judge  Campbell  sent  a  letter 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  in  which  he  quoted  the  language 
he  had  used  in  his  letter  to  the  commissioners  in  regard 
to  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter,  and  also  stated  that 
the  substance  of  that  letter  had  been  repeated  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  the  same  evening  that  it  was  written,  and 
that  he,  the  Secretary  of  War,  did  not  disapprove. 

Judge  Campbell  then  states  further  to  the  Secretary 
tha  the  is  informed  that  Major  Anderson  is  repairing  the 
fort,  and  complains  bitterly  of  the  duplicity  practiced 
in  the  matter,  and  of  the  false  light  in  which  he.  Judge 
Campbell,  had  been  placed  by  the  Secretary's  action. 
He  accused  the  Secretary,  Mr.  Cameron,  of  the  most  will- 
ful and  deliberate  duplicity  and  breach  of  faith,  and 
quotes  from  letters  which  had  passed  between  them  to 
prove  it. 

Mr.  Campbell  says  to  the  Secretary:  "On  the  7th  of 
April  I  addressed  you  a  letter  on  the  subject  of  the  alarm 
which  the  preparations  by  the  Government  had  created 
in  the  matter  of  repairing  Fort  Sumter,  and  asked  you 
if  the  assurances  I  had  given  the  commissioners  were  well 
or  ill  founded  in  regard  to  Fort  Sumter.  Your  reply 
was,  "Faith  as  to  Sumter  fully  kept — wait  and  see." 
Judge  Campbell  then  goes  on  to  tell  ^Ir.  Cameron  that 
on  the  very  next  day  Mr.  Lincoln  had  notified  the  Gov- 
ernor of  South  Carolina  that  reinforcements  would  be 
sent  to  Fort  Sumter,  "  peaceably  if  they  could,  or  other- 
wise by  force,"  and  closes  his  letter  by  saying  "  that  there 
had  been  systematic  duplicity  practiced  by  the  Adminis- 
tration in  the  matter  from  the  very  first." 

Whether  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  party  to  this  duplicity  or 
not,  is  a  matter  left  to  the  opinion  of  the  reader;  but  as 
against  Mr.  Cameron  the  proof  is  conclusive,  and  to  the 
end  of  time  will  leave  a  stain  upon  his  name,  which  no 
apology,  no  explanation,  no  excuse  can  ever  wipe  away. 


366  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

That  Mr.  Cameron  should  have  taken  advantage  of 
the  high  standing  of  Judge  Campbell,  and  the  earnest 
efforts  of  the  patriotic  Union-loving  people  of  Virginia 
to  save  the  country  from  civil  war,  and,  possibly,  pave  the 
way  back  to  a  perpetual  restoration  of  the  Union,  to  blind, 
deceive  and  hoodwink  the  commissioners,  and  through 
them  the  whole  South — was,  and  is,  and  ever  will  be,  a 
shame  and  a  disgrace. 

That  duplicity  on  the  part  of  the  Administration  de- 
stroyed the  last  ray  of  hope  that  lingered  to  liglit  the 
hearts  of  the  millions  of  Union-loving  people  throughout 
the  entire  border  States,  That  notice  served  on  Governor 
Pickens  to  the  effect  that  armed  force  was  coming  to 
force  submission  on  South  Carolina,  was  a  declaration  of 
war;  and  the  booming  cannon,  whose  reverberations  went 
echoing  over  the  waters,  and  the  kindling  fires  that  were 
set  ablaze  around  the  walls  of  Sumter,  were  but  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  gage  of  battle. 

The  decision  was  forced  upon  South  Carolina,  either  to 
reduce  the  fort  or  stand  idly  by  and  see  it  reinforced.  If 
all  that  South  Carolina  had  done  and  said  was  not  mere 
child's  play,  then  there  was  but  one  course  left  for  her  to 
pursue.  The  assertion  has  been  made,  time  and  again, 
that  South  Carolina  began  the  war.  The  facts  are  a  flat 
contradiction  to  this  assertion.  The  accusation  is  refuted 
by  every  principle  of  self-defence.  Even  Mr.  Greeley,  in 
his  *' American  Conflict,"  is  candid  enough  to  say,  "that 
whether  the  bombardment  and  reduction  of  Fort  Sum- 
ter shall  or  shall  not  be  justified  by  posterity,  it  is  clear 
that  the  Confederacy  had  no  alternative  left  but  its  own 
dissolution."  It  is  remarkable,  and  the  candid  reader,  be 
he  who  he  may,  must  admit  it,  that  neither  Mr.  Lincoln, 
nor  any  member  of  his  Cabinet,  nor  a  single  State  of  the 
thirteen,  which  admitted  that  they  had  violated  the  con- 
stitution, ever  made  one  single  effort  either  to  pacify  the 
South  or  to  rectify  the  wrongs  complained  of.    Every  efibrt 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  367 

towards  conciliation;  every  effort  towards  peace;  every 
effort  towards  adjustment;  every  effort  to  save  the  Union, 
and  to  avert  civil  war,  came  from  the  South.  Mr.  Lincoln 
never  so  much  as  sent  a  message,  or  made  a  proposition, 
or  offered  a  suggestion  in  behalf  of  peace.  The  South 
had  been  denied  its  constitutional  rights,  and  now  it  had 
to  submit  to  Northern  dictation  without  an  excuse,  or 
explanation,  or  it  had  to  be  whipped  into  measures.  The 
whipping  they  got  is  not  half  as  bad  as  the  disgrace 
they  would  have  suffered  had  they  yielded  without  a 
fight.  Let  those  recreant  spirits  that  sigh  and  sob  for 
the  loss  of  property  and  the  licks  they  received,  go 
bend  the  suppliant  knee  and  kiss  the  rod,  while  they 
confess  their  cowardice;  but,  my  brethren,  let  us,  who 
loved  and  followed  Lee  and  Jackson  and  Stuart,  Beaure- 
gard, Breckenridge,  and  the  two  Johnstons,  say  to  the 
world,  and  live  up  to  the  saying,  "We  did  what  we  thought 
was  right;  we  did  what  manhood  required,  and  for  the 
doing  we  have  no  apology  to  make.  We  have  lost  the 
fight;  we  accept  the  issue;  M^e  will  abide  the  result ;  we 
will  join  Southern  energy  to  Northern  enterprise,  and 
help  to  build  a  firmer  Union  on  the  waste  places  of  war ; 
but  we  will  never  confess  that  the  principle  we  embraced 
was  treason  to  constitutional  right." 

When  the  first  gun  was  fired  from  Sullivan's  Island, 
a  flying  shell  went  shrieking  over  Fort  Sumter,  and 
gave  notice  to  the  world  that  the  era  of  compromise  and 
"duplicity"  had  ended, and  that  the  South  had  taken  an 
appeal  from  the  decision  of  coercion  to  the  arbitrament 
of  arms.  The  Federal  fleet,  with  ample  reinforcements 
for  Sumter,  was  standing  in  full  view;  but  she  had  no 
comfort  for  the  beleaguered, save  the  dip  of  a  flag,and  no 
consolation  to  bear  back  from  her  "secret"  mission,  save 
the  mortifying  thought  that  she  was  the  first  to  inaugu- 
rate hostilities,  and  the  first  to  fly  the  danger.  The  relief 
squadron,  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  fitting  out  at  the  New 


368  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

York  Navy  Yard  during  the  whole  time  that  Secretary 
Cameron  was  coquetting  with  Judge  Campbell  and  the 
Confederate  commissioners,  consisted  of  seven  ships,  car- 
rying two  hundred  and  eighty-five  guns  and  two  thou- 
sand four  hundred  men.  The  very  day  it  sailed  from 
New  York  Mr.  Cameron  sealed  its  orders,  which  said 
"Keinforce  Sumter;  peaceably  if  permitted,  otherwise 
by  force;"  then  turned  and  wrote  to  Judge  Campbell, 
"  Faith  as  to  Sumter  kept — wait  and  see." 

The  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  began  at  4:30  P.  M.,  April 
the  12th,  1861,  and  was  continued  without  cessation  until 
the  afternoon  of  Saturday,  the  14th — just  tbirtj'-two  hours 
— at  which  time  the  fort  was  silenced  and  the  garrison 
surrendered.     Not  a  man  was  killed  on  either  side. 

The  next  day,  April  the  15th,  Mr,  Lincoln  issued  a 
proclamation,  the  most  remarkable  the  world  has  ever 
known,  calling  for  75,000  troops  to  be  contributed  by  the 
non-seceded  States  in  proportion  to  their  respective  popu- 
lation. The  object  of  this  call  was  plainly  set  forth  in 
the  proclamation,  which  recited  "  That  whereas  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  have  been  for  some  time  past  and 
now  are  opposed,  and  the  execution  thereof  obstructed 
in  the  States  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Ala- 
bama, Mississippi,  Louisiana  and  Texas  by  combinations 
too  powerful  to  be  suppressed  by  the  ordinary  course  of 
judicial  procedure,  I  have  thought  fit  to  call  forth  the 
militia  of  the  several  States  of  the  Union,  to  the  aggre- 
gate number  of  75,000,  in  order  to  suppress  said  combi- 
nations; and  I  hereby  command  the  persons  composing 
the  combinations  aforesaid  to  disperse  and  to  retire 
peaceably  to  their  respective  abodes  within  twenty  days." 

This  proclamation  fell  as  a  fire-brand  in  the  midst  of 
the  excited  minds  of  the  border  States,  and  the  indigna- 
tion it  aroused  knew  no  bounds.  Every  Southern  heart 
was  fired  as  with  a  burning  flame ;  every  mind  was 
moved  with  anger;  every  soul  filled  with  the  glowing  heat 
of  all-consuming  passion. 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  869 

This  proclamation  was  remarkable,  in  that  it  was  in- 
tended for  those  purposes  which  the  late  Chief  Magistrate 
and  the  Attorney-General  had  officially  said  could  not  be 
done  except  by  the  plainest  and  most  palpable  violation 
of  the  constitution ;  intended  to  do  that  which  Mr.  Doug- 
las had  said,  on  the  15th  of  March,  in  a  speech  before 
the  Senate,  could  not  be  attempted  by  the  President 
"witlioutthe  most  censurableand  criminal  violation  of  his 
official  oath";  intended  to  do  what  Mr.  Douglas  challenged 
the  whole  Senate  and  all  the  people  "to  find  law  to  em- 
power, authority  to  justify,  or  precedent  to  sanction"  ;  in- 
tended to  do  whateven  an  Abolition  Congress  would  not  so 
far  stultify  itself  as  to  pass  a  resolution  legalizing  the 
act;  but,  on  the  contrary,  positively  refused  when  the 
attempt  was  made  by  some  of  its  members. 

This  proclamation  was  issued,  purporting  to  have  for 
its  object  to  maintain  the  dignity  of  the  constitution.  Then 
isn't  it  most  remarkable  as  well  as  significant  that  no 
writer,  no  statesman,  no  lawyer,  no  friend  has  ever  dared 
toattem])t  to  defend  this  action  of  Mr.  Lincoln  upon  legal 
grounds?  The  people  of  tlie  United  States  thought  that 
they  were  1  iving  under  a  constitutionnl  government,  but  it 
must  appear  that  they  were  a  deluded  people,  for  there  can 
be  no  doubt  of  the  unconstitutionality  of  this  proclama- 
tion, no  doubt  of  its  being  an  unprecedented  usurpation 
of  authority  deliberately  assumed 

The  proclamation  was  beyond  all  question  an  exercise 
of  the  war  power,  and  no  one  will  attempt  to  maintain 
that  the  constitution  confers  upon  the  Administrative 
Department  the  sole  authority  to  levy  war  and  to  be  the 
sole  judge  of  the  occasion  when  this  power  shall  be 
exercised.  No  lawyer  who  can  lay  claim  even  to  respect- 
ability in  the  profession,  will  maintain  that  the  consti- 
tution confers  upon  the  President  the  authority  to  call 
out  the  militia  of  the  spvctuI  States  to  coerce  a  seceded 
State,  and  no  one  can  read  the  constitution  without  see- 
24 


S70  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

ing  that  the  power  to  declare  war  is  conferred  upon  the 
Congress  alone.  Nevertheless,  the  proclamation  was  re- 
ceived by  the  governors  of  the  free  States  with  general 
approval,  and  the  cars  of  war  went  pouring  forward  to 
Washington  in  hot  haste. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  proclamation  was  received 
by  the  border  States  with  general  amazement,  and  an- 
swered with  indignation  and  contempt.  No  one  had 
dreamed  that  the  President  would  dare  to  violate  the 
constitution  so  openly  and  assume  powers  so  far  beyond 
the  scope  of  the  Executive  authority.  The  Government 
of  the  United  States  had,  on  all  hands,  been  regarded  as 
a  constitutional  government;  and  up  to  the  issuing  of 
that  proclamation  the  wildest  Anti-States-Rights  fanatic 
had  never  advanced  the  idea  that  the  power  to  inaugu- 
rate war  was  Tested  in  the  Executive;  hence,  the  hot 
indignation  of  the  border  States.  They  regarded  this 
proclamation  as  a  deliberate  violation  of  the  most  sacred 
right  of  the  human  race — the  right  of  self-government. 
They  regarded  it  as  a  willful  perversion  of  the  principles 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  a  contravention 
of  every  construction  of  the  organic  law  of  the  Govern- 
ment. The  da}''  before  the  issuing  of  this  proclamation 
Virginia  stood  in  her  convention  89  to  45  in  favor  of 
peace  and  the  Union.  That  very  night  the  convention 
voted  85  to  55  for  secession.  Governor  Letcher,  in  his 
reply  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  call  for  troops,  said, "  You  have 
chosen  to  inaugurate  civil  war,  and  having  done  so  we 
will  meet  you  in  a  spirit  as  determined  as  the  Adminis- 
tration has  exhibited  towards  the  South." 

Governor  Harris,  of  Tennessee,  said,  "Tennessee  will 
not  furnish  a  single  man  for  coercion,  but  fifty  thousand, 
if  necessary,  for  the  defence  of  our  rights."  Kentucky 
said,  "  Emphatically  no  troops  will  be  furnished  for  the 
wicked  purpose  of  subjugation."  Governor  Jackson,  of 
Missouri,  replied,  ^  It  is  ille.2:al.  unconstitutional,  revolu- 


TANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  371 

tionary,  inhuman,  diabolical."  Governor  Burton,  of 
Delaware,  said,  "  The  laws  of  this  State  do  not  confer 
upon  the  Executive  any  authority  to  comply  with  such 
a  requisition."  Governor  Hicks,  of  Maryland,  treated 
the  call  with  silent  contem^^t.  Governor  Ellis,  of  North 
Carolina,  said  in  exiensOy  "  Your  dispatch  is  received ;  if 
genuine,  which  its  extraordinary  character  leads  me  to 
doubt,  I  have  to  say  in  reply  that  I  regard  the  levy  of 
troops  made  by  the  Administration  for  the  purpose  of 
subjugating  the  States  of  tlie  South,  as  in  violation  of  the 
constitution  and  a  usurpation  of  power.  I  can  be  no  party 
to  this  wicked  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  country  and 
this  war  upon  the  liberties  of  the  people."  Arkansas  had 
refused  to  secede — her  convention  had  adjourned — but 
when  this  proclamation  was  issued  the  convention  reas- 
sembled and  passed  the  ordinance  of  secession  by  a  vote 
of  69  to  1. 

The  Republican  party,  then  the  dominant  party  of 
almost  the  entire  North,  approved  of  what  Mr.  Lincoln 
had  done.  The  Governors  of  the  free  States,  it  may  be 
said,  were  unanimous  in  their  endorsement  of  the  proc- 
lamation, and  vied  with  each  other  in  their  efforts  to 
respond,  while  on  the  other  hand,  for  the  most  part,  the 
Democratic  press  of  that  section  was  no  less  emphatic  in 
an  unqualified  denunciation  of  the  act  of  usurpation. 
The  New  York  Express  said,  "The  *  irrepressible  conflict' 
started  by  Mr.  Seward,  and  endorsed  by  the  Republican 
party,  has  at  length  attained  its  logical  result;  that  con- 
flict undertaken  for  the  sake  of  humanity,  culminates 
now  in  inhumanity  itself.  That  party  flushed  with  the 
power  and  patronage  of  the  Federal  Government  has 
madly  rushed  into  a  civil  war,  which  will  drive  the  re- 
maining slave  States  into  the  arms  of  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy, and  dash  to  pieces  the  last  hope  of  a  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  Union.  To  the  cold-blooded,  heartless  dema- 
gogues who  started  this  war,  we  can  only  say,  'you  must 


372  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

find  your  account  at  the  hands  of  an  indignant  people,  or 
iu  the  tears  of  women  and  orphans.  Tiie  South  is  fight- 
ing upon  her  own  soil  in  behalf  of  her  dearest  rights ; 
for  her  public  institutions;  her  homes  and  her  firesides; 
the  rank  of  her  armies  is  filled  by  men  as  intelligent,  pat- 
riotic and  brave  as  ever  faced  a  foe  ;  the  Administration, 
egged  on  by  tlie  halloo  of  the  Black  Republican  jour- 
nals has  sent  its  mercenary  forces  to  j^ick  a  quarrel  and 
initiate  the  work  of  desolation  and  ruin." 

The  Utica  Observer,  of  the  same  State,  declared  that, 
"  Of  all  the  wars  that  have  disgraced  the  human  race,  it 
has  been  reserved  for  our  own  enlightened  nation  to  be 
involved  in  the  most  useless  and  foolish  one.  Brave  men 
fighting  on  their  own  soil  and  for  their  dearest  rights  can 
never  be  subjugated." 

The  Bangor  Union,  of  Maine,  still  more  emphatic,  calls 
upon  the  Democracy  of  the  country  and  says,  "  The  loyal 
sons  of  the  South  have  gathered  around  Charleston  as 
your  brothers  of  old  gathered  about  Boston  in  defence  of 
the  same  sacred  principles — principles  which  you.  have 
upheld  and  defended  with  your  vote,  your  voice,  and  your 
strong  right  arm.  Tliose  who  have  inaugurated  this 
unholy  and  unjustifiable  war  are  no  friends  of  yours;  no 
friends  of  democratic  liberty.  When  the  government  at 
Washington  calls  for  volunteers  to  do  the  dirty  work  of 
subjugation,  under  the  specious  phrase  of  enforcing  the 
laws,  let  every  Democrat  fold  his  arms  and  bid  the  min- 
ions of  Tory  despotism  do  a  Tory  despot's  work.  Say  to 
them  fearlessly  and  boldly  in  the  language  of  England's 
Lord,  if  I  were  a  Southerner  as  I  am  a  Northerner  while 
a  foreign  troop  was  landed  in  my  country  I  would  never 
lay  down  my  arms — never — never — never." 

The  Albany  Argus  pointedly  expresses  the  sentiment 
and  the  cause  of  the  conflict,  and  declares  that  "a  fear- 
ful responsibility  is  due  to  those  who  have  brought  this 
crisis  upon  the  country.     Between  the  States  of  the  Union 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  373 

war  is  to  be  declared,  and  its  provocation  is  to  be  found 
in  the  aggression  of  section  against  section  and  the  de- 
fiance of  constitutional  guarantees.  It  is  a  civil  war  where 
success  is  without  glory,  where  noblest  deeds  are  without 
honor.  If  this  call  (meaning  the  proclamation)  were 
even  a  natural,  intelligent  assertion  of  government  au- 
thority it  would  appeal  to  the  moral  sentiment  of  the 
country;  but  it  can  not  in  any  event  have  this  effect. 
The  deed  of  separation  is  sealed  in  the  first  blood  shed 
in  this  conflict." 

The  New  York  Herald  asks,  "  What  is  all  this  for?  To 
show  that  we  have  a  Government — to  show  that  the 
seceded  States  are  still  in  the  Union  ?  This  is  the  fatal 
mistake  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  The  simple  truth  patent  to  all 
the  world  is  that  the  seceded  States  are  out  of  the  Union, 
and  are  organized  under  an  independent  government  of 
their  own.  War  will  only  widen  the  breach  and  consol- 
idate the  Confederacy." 

The  Boston  Pod  said,  "The  people  must  speak,  a  na- 
tional convention  should  be  convened  ;  then  if  all  meas- 
ures for  a  satisfactory  adjustment  fail  after  a  full  hearing, 
let  it  depart  in  peace." 

Mr.  Horace  Greeley,  who,  it  is  well  known,  never  had 
one  kind  word  for  the  South  until  the  time  when  the 
"Presidential  Bee"  began  to  buzz  in  his  ears,  says  in  his 
American  Conflict,  "  That  the  True  American,  of  Trenton, 
New  Jersey,  and  so  far  as  can  be  traced  every  other  prom- 
inent Democratic  journal  of  the  State  blamed  the  Ad- 
ministration and  the  Black  Republican  party  for  inciting 
and  provoking  the  South,  and  condemned  the  proclama- 
tion in  language  in  substantial  accordance  with  that 
quoted  from  the  New  York  Express  and  the  Albany  Ar- 
gus, and  that  nearly  every  leading  Democratic  paper  in 
Pennsylvania  did  the  same  thing  ;"  prominent  among 
them  ho  names  the  Pennsylvanian,  the  Patriot  and  the 
Union.    So  also  he  says  did  the  ablest  and  most  widely 


374  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

circulated  journals  of  Connecticut.  Also  the  Chicago 
Times,  the  Detroit  Free  Press  and  the  Ohio  Statesman. 
What  a  chapter  for  the  North  to  look  back  to?  But  every 
line  of  it  is  history.  We  quote  not  to  confound  the  North; 
not  to  condemn ;  not  to  place  her  in  a  bad  light  before 
the  world,  but  to  do  that  which  is  one  of  the  main  ob- 
jects of  this  work,  to  give  the  grounds  upon  which  the 
South  claim  to  justify  its  action,  and  induce  all  men  to 
forget  the  words  "  traitor,"  "  rebel,"  "  treason,"  and  to  join 
hands  and  hearts  as  we  are  joined  in  government  and 
to  strive  for  mutual  protection,  mutual  good  and  national 
prosperity.  For  if  such  were  the  sentiments  of  so  many 
of  the  patriotic  citizens  of  the  North  the  candid  opinions 
of  her  gifted  statesmen  and  the  conscientious  out-pouring 
of  just  and  noble  hearts,  that  loved  the  constitution,  but 
loved  right  and  reason  and  justice  more,  what  could 
be  the  feeling  at  the  South,  but  fiery  indignation?  AVhat 
measures  could  they  invoke,  but  the  means  of  might  to 
meet  subjugation  ?  What  course  could  they  pursue,  other 
than  the  course  which  defied  coercion?  What  action 
could  they  employ,  but  the  act  of  active  opposition? 

The  whole  South  arf)se  as  one  man ;  defiance  was  de- 
picted on  every  face;  indignation  blazed  in  every  eye; 
passion  roared  like  an  angry  sea,  while  excitement  rolled 
over  the  land  like  the  waves  of  a  sweeping  fire.  Discord 
and  dissension  vanished  like  a  shadow.  The  ultra  Union- 
ist was  now  the  hottest  in  mad  defiance.  Let  them  come, 
they  cried.  "  We  will  sweep  them  from  the  land  of 
the  living."  "  We  will  scorch  their  very  souls  with  the 
fires  of  our  indignation."  "  We  will  show  them  that 
Southern  prayers  for  peace  can  be  turned  to  a  sirocco  of 
wrath." 

Virginia  seceded  on  the  17th  of  April;  Arkansas,  North 
Carolina  and  Tennessee  followed  in  quick  succession. 
The  hosts  were  gathering — armies  marching,  bands  play- 
ing, troops  massing,  soldiers  drilling,  drums  beating — 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  376 

excitement  surging  like  a  sea.  Into  the  angry,  whirling 
vortex  every  rank  and  condition  was  drawn  ;  youth  and 
old  age  mingling  in  the  dashing  circle,  while  beauty  stood 
and  waved  the  patriots  on.  Conspicuous  among  the  citi- 
zen soldiery  could  be  seen  the  manly  form  and  splendid 
figure  of  Charles  Eeed.  He  had  completely  recovered 
from  his  late  attack,  and  now  moved  among  the  gather- 
ing band  of  patriotic  spirits  a  typical  representative  of 
the  Southern  soldier. 

All  eyes  were  turned  to  Virginia.  She  now  stood 
clothed  in  the  panoply  of  right — the  sublime  embodi- 
ment of  dignified  defiance.  Her  magnanimous  forbear- 
ance, coupled  with  her  heroic  struggle  for  peace,  her 
relentless  enemies  mistook  for  signs  of  conscious  weakness. 
"  She  is  no  longer  the  mother  of  States  and  of  statesmen," 
they  cried,  *'  but  a  laggard  in  war,  a  craven  in  danger ; 
the  genius  of  her  youth  is  shadowed  with  fear  and  top- 
pling with  dotage  in  the  gloom  of  its  eclipse.  The  breast 
that  gave  suckle  to  Washington,  to  Henry,  to  Light-Horse 
Harry  Lee  is  now  dry  with  cowering  stagnation."  And 
thus  they  dared  to  stretch  over  her  head  the  rod  of  cor- 
rection; but  the  impious  hand  that  held  it  was  paralyzed 
by  the  terrible  stroke  of  flashing  indignation,  and  she 
whom  they  had  named  cowardly  and  decrepid  flamed  up 
at  the  insolent  touch  a  pyramid  of  consuming  fire.  She 
loved  the  Union;  she  had  tried  hard  to  preserve  it. 
Again  and  again  she  had  tried  to  roll  back  those  waves 
of  war  that  were  being  driven  upon  her  and  to  let  the  flag 
of  peace  float  in  triumph  above  the  roaring  floods  of 
passion;  again  and  again  she  had  stood  undaunted  amid 
the  black  cloud  of  gathering  wrath  and  waved  the  olive- 
branch  in  efforts  vain  to  assuage  the  heaving  tide  of  mad 
contention,  but  her  prayers  were  hushed  with  denuncia- 
tions, and  her  invocations  with  mockery.  She  hoped  and 
prayed  and  plead  until  the  farthest  point  of  endurance 
was  passed  and  the  polluting  hand  of  coercionraised 


376  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIB. 

before  her  very  eyes,  then  her  supplication  changed  to 
indignation  and  her  indignation  flashed  a  flame  of  con- 
suming fire.  Siie  stood  forth  the  unterrified  Virginia  of 
1776 — the  glorious  Commonwealth  of  heroic  splendor — 
crowned  again  with  the  beauty  of  her  immortal  youth. 
She  took  down  her  ancient  shield  from  her  capitol  walls 
and  flung  her  banner  to  the  breeze ;  her  gleaming  sword 
flashed  in  the  sunlight  of  liberty  before  the  eyes  of  op- 
pression, while  her  Sic  Semper  Tyrannis  waved  to  bid  the 
world  beware.  She  stood  the  true  type  of  Southern 
chivalry — conscientious,  cautious,  fearless,  pure  and  un- 
selfish— elevated  in  principle,  dauntless  in  courage,  fear- 
less of  battle,  with  an  eye  raised  in  religious  faith  to  the 
righteous  heavens,  trusting  to  divine  approval.  She  saw 
the  mighty  hosts  of  Northern  hatred  gathering  its  forces 
and  making  ready  to  spring  upon  the  fair  forms  of  her 
disaffected  sisters  of  the  South,  and  with  a  heroism  that 
must  challenge  the  world's  applause  and  the  enemy's 
admiration,  she  stepped  between  and  received  the  blow 
upon  her  own  breast.  Condemn  her  if  you  will — con- 
demn her  if  you  can — condemn  her  if  you  must ;  but 
we,  her  children,  wilt  love  her  in  adversity  as  we  loved 
her  in  prosperit}',  and  our  love  will  live  on  down  the 
channel  of  time  to  the  very  end  of  the  chapter 

On  the  19th  of  April  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  another 
proclamation,  ordering  a  blockade  of  all  the  ports  of  the 
seceded  States — an  act  admitted  to  be  unconstitutional. 
On  the  8d  of  May  he  issued  his  third  proclamation,  order- 
ing an  increase  of  the  regular  army  to  64,748  men,  and 
an  increase  to  the  navy  of  18,000 — all  unquestionably 
beyond  the  scope  of  the  Executive  authority.  This  was 
followed  by  another  proclamation,  issued  the  10th  of  May, 
suspendinof  the  writ  of  hnhens  corp ?/.<?,  an  act  which  the 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Unito<l  Stafps  Supreme  Court,  in  the 
case  of  John  Merrymjui,  deolarod  to  be  clearly  unconsti- 
tutional, but  which  decision   the  Executive  set  at  do- 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  377 

fiance — high-handed  measures  for  the  Executive  officer 
of  a  constitutional  government  to  assume — but  the  peo- 
ple of  the  North  not  only  submitted  but  endorsed  aud 
approved.  Congress  soon  assembled  in  extra  session,  in 
obedience  to  the  call  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  one  of  its  first 
acts  was  to  increase  the  army  625,000  men  and  appro- 
priating $500,000,000  to  arm  and  equip  the  same. 

Under  these  most  vigorous  measures  a  mighty  host 
was  gathered  at  Washington  ready  to  strike  Virginia  at 
every  point,  and  to  crush  her  if  it  could  be  done  at  a  sin- 
gle blow,  and  it  looked  as  though  this  effort  w^ould  not  be 
in  vain,  for  while  her  citizens  were  patriotic,  they  had  no 
organization,  and  while  her  sons  were  brave  they  had  no 
arms,  but  nothing  daunted  they  flew  to  the  front  to  stand 
a  living  breast-work  before  the  hostile  invasion. 

The  day  that  Virginia  seceded  Dabney  Reed  called  to  see 
Governor  Letcher  at  the  Executive  mansion  in  Richmond, 
and  said :  "  I  have  come,  Governor,  to  tender  my  services  in 
behalf  of  the  defence  of  my  native  State.  Command  me 
and  mine  while  there  is  a  single  hostile  foot  on  Virginia's  sa- 
cred soil."  Llis  services  were  accepted,  and  Virginia  having 
soon  united  with  the  general  government  of  the  seceded 
States,  he  was  assigned  to  duty  as  colonel  of  the reg- 
iment in  the  provisional  army  of  the  Confederate  States. 
As  Dabney  Reed  was  taking  leave  of  Governor  Letcher, 
he  said :  "  I  have  a  sou,  Governor,  and  if  you  will  excuse 
a  father's  pride,  I  will  say  he  is  worthy  to  serve  his  coun- 
try. A  letter  from  him  this  morning  said  he  has  raised 
a  company  of  cavalry,  has  been  elected  its  captain,  and  re- 
quests mo  to  offer  its  services  to  you  as  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Virginia  forces.  He  is  ready  to  move  at  a 
moment's  notice." 

"I  know  Charles  Reed,"  replied  the  Governor,  as  he 
pressed  the  father's  hand.  "  I  know  his  worth.  Tele- 
graph liim  to-night  to  march  his  command  to  Winches- 
ter.    I  will  send  his  commission  and  his  orders  there." 


878  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

The  25th  of  April  had  been  named  by  Helen  as  the 
day  when  she  would  be  ready  the  second  time  to  become 
the  wife  of  Charles  Reed.  Every  preparation  had  been 
made,  every  arrangement  provided,  but  the  political 
events  of  the  last  few  days  seemed  anything  but  pro- 
pitious for  the  joyful  occasion.  Love  was  the  light  of 
these  two  hearts.  It  filled  their  whole  being  with  glad- 
ness, and  crowned  their  lives  with  a  halo  which  made 
every  prospect  pleasing.  They  had  never  thought  of  sep- 
aration. They  had  never  dreamed  of  a  fate  so  cruel  as 
to  drag  them  apart  w^hile  living ;  all  their  anticipations 
flowed  a  silvery  stream  of  glad  rejoicing  ;  all  their  hopes 
gleamed  a  bright  star  never  paling.  Love  is  so  sweet :  it 
makes  us  feel  so  strong ;  so  brave ;  so  ready  to  meet  op- 
position, and  to  defy  adversity.  It  reflects  the  rainbow 
of  hope  on  the  storm-cloud  of  misfortune,  and  holds  out 
the  beacon-light  of  promise,  when  the  sea  runs  deep, 
dark  and  dangerous.  There  is  something  in  the  endur- 
ing tenderness  of  love  that  transcends  all  the  other  emo- 
tions of  the  heart,  and  lights  up  the  soul  with  a  light  so 
bright,  so  pure,  so  constant,  the  shadows  of  despair  can 
never  gather  into  gloom.  Helen  loved  Charles  with  all 
the  deep  sincerity  of  her  nature;  with  all  the  fond  affec- 
tion of  a  true  woman's  heart,  and  in  return  Charles  loved 
her  as  a  true  woman  should  be  loved,  undividedly,  un- 
selfishly, unceasingly;  loved  her  with  tenderness,  with 
deep  delight  and  rapturous  gladness;  loved  her  as  the 
sweet  flowers  love  the  dew  drops  of  the  morning,  as  the 
gleaming  moonbeams  love  the  swelling  billows  of  the  sea, 
as  the  rainbow  loves  the  cloudlet  that  lies  slumbering  in 
the  summer  air.  Loving  thus,  why  should  they  think  of 
sadness;  why  should  they  dream  of  sorrow  or  anticipate 
care.  What  could  sever  hearts  like  these?  What  could 
disunite  lives  that  flowed  as  a  single  stream  ?  Hope  and 
trust  and  faith  and  confidence  had  gathered  every  joy  of 
the  heart  and  wreathed  a  garland  of  matchless  beauty, 


YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE.  379 

and  love  descending  from  the  sky  had  breathed  upon  it 
the  breath  of  immortaUty. 

A  few  days  more,  they  each  one  thought,  would  bring 
happiness  to  happy  perfection;  their  hands  would  then  be 
joined  as  their  hearts  had  been  for  years.  Their  lives 
would  be  united  with  that  tie  which  death  alone  could 
sever.  The  twain  would  be  one  flesh ;  God  would  join 
them  together  and  no  man  could  put  them  asunder:  but 
alas!  how  vain  is  hope,  and  oh,  alas!  how  often  is  the  cup 
of  joy  ever  ready  at  the  lips  to  be  quaffed,  rudely  dashed 
to  earth  and  broken.  That  happy  day  was  not  to  be 
reached  in  the  realization  of  anticipated  joy  until  trials 
had  tested  their  courage ;  danger  had  tried  their  forti- 
tude, and  sorrow  purified  and  sanctified  their  love  and 
hallowed  their  affection. 

They  were  to  be  separated  ;  he  to  go  to  danger,  hard- 
ship, privation  and  suffering ;  to  pass  through  smoke  and 
dust  and  fire  and  furious  battle,  up  to  the  jaws  of  death, 
into  the  pain  and  anguish  of  ghastly  wounds.  She  to 
witness  the  desolation  of  war ;  the  devastation  of  fire  and 
the  inhumanity  of  relentless  foes ;  to  tread  the  wine-jDress 
of  sorrow  and  sad  separation  almost  up  to  the  grave  of 
cherished  hopes  and  earthly  idols.  But  they  knew  it 
not,  the  veil  of  futurity  could  not  be  pierced,  nor  did  they 
rejoicing  in  their  joy  attempt  the  vain  endeavor.  Su- 
premely happy  in  the  present,  they  believed  in  an  un- 
clouded future. 

The  telegraphic  message  of  Governor  Letcher,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  it  was  to  be  transmitted  in  part  by  mail, 
did  not  reach  Charles  until  the  afternoon  of  the  21st, 
just  three  days  before  the  day  of  all  days  to  which  he 
had  looked  forward  as  the  happiest  of  his  whole  life ;  the 
day  of  his  anticipated  marriage  with  the  loveliest  of  the 
lovely ;  the  sweetest  of  the  sweet ;  the  noblest  of  the  no- 
ble ;  the  purest  of  the  pure.  But  now  this  order  had 
come,  it  bade  him  march ;  it  ordered  him  forward  in  de- 


380  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

fence  of  his  home,  to  meet  with  defiance  an  invading  foe. 
What  was  he  to  do  ?  Go  where  glory  and  honor  awaited 
him ;  where  duty  called  and  patriotism  pointed ;  where 
heroes  were  gathering  and  his  country  needed  him,  or 
stay  and  steep  his  soul  in  the  matchless  bliss  of  wedded 
love.  Yesterday  he  had  mingled  in  the  splendid  specta- 
cle of  a  glorious  review,  filled  with  the  fires  of  indigna- 
tion at  the  impious  tread  of  hostile  invasion  on  Virginia's 
sacred  soil ;  the  gathering  of  defiant  spirits  had  excited 
and  delighted  him.  His  heated  imagination  pictured 
the  glorious  reality  of  war.  He  saw  the  light  of  defiant 
faces ;  the  glitter  of  tinseled  uniforms ;  the  fluttering  of 
flags  ;  the  gleam  of  flashing  arms.  He  heard  the  roll  of 
heavy  guns  mingling  with  the  stirring  notes  of  the  fife 
and  the  inspiring  rattle  of  the  drum,  answering  back  the 
bugle's  blast  calling  the  cavalry  to  parade ;  while  the  long 
line  of  helmets  and  polished  accoutrements  shining  in 
the  morning  sun  brought  back  his  boyish  dreams  of  joust 
and  tournament,  and  made  his  heart  beat  high  with 
chivalrous  enthusiasm.  But  to-day  he  is  called  upon  to 
go — to  go  and  leave  her  whom  he  loves  with  a  love  deeper 
than  his  thirst  for  glory ;  whose  voice  is  to  him  sweeter 
than  the  trump  of  fame;  whose  presence  is  brighter 
than  the  sunbeams  of  heaven.  His  heart  fails  him ;  his 
ambition  slumbers ;  his  pride  sleeps;  his  manhood  weak- 
ens. *'I  cannot  leave  her  now.  She  is  more  to  me 
than  life ;  more  than  fame ;  more  than  glory,  yea,  more 
than  my  country.  Next  week,  when  I  have  kept  my 
vows ;  when  I  have  made  good  the  faith  that  has  filled 
my  heart  from  my  childhood's  hour  to  the  present  mo- 
ment; then  I  will  go;  then  I  can  go  with  a  braver  spirit, 
with  a  more  dauntless  courage :  but  not  now — not  to-day; 
one  man  cannot  matter;  one  arm  will  not  be  missed. 
'Twould  break  her  heart.  ]\Iy  duty  is  to  her  first  before 
Till  the  world.  I  will  go  to  her  at  once,  in  my  every 
thought  she  shall  be  my  partner  and  my  companion." 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  381 

An  hour  later  and  Charles  Reed  stood  in  the  splendid 
parlor  at  the  Grove.  His  face  was  clouded  with  care,  his 
eyes  were  cast  down,  expressive  of  painful  tliou^hts. 
There  was  a  struggle  in  his  heart;  contending  emot.ons 
were  striving  for  the  mastery  in  his  breast.  A  light  step 
was  heard  upon  the  stair.  He  looked  up  and  Helen  en- 
tered the  room.  She  came  a  vision  of  beauty — a  radiant 
light  of  beaming  hope  and  Love's  sweet  comforting 
promise.  Charles  smiled  the  sweet,  glad  smile  of  devo- 
tion, mingling  with  admiration,  as  she  came  forward,  and 
held  out  both  his  hands  in  welcome  greeting.  Helen 
laid  her  hands  in  his  and  raised  her  eyes.  She  saw  that 
welcome  smile;  but,  with  woman's  intuitive  perception, 
quickened  by  love,  she  saw  behind  that  smile  the  shadows 
of  late  care.  She  said  not  a  word;  but  disengaging  her 
right  hand,  stroked  his  forehead  from  centre  to  sides,  as 
though  to  smooth  the  traces  of  care  and  to  brush  away 
the  mist  that  had  gathered  there,  and  then  taking  up  his 
hand  again,  looked  straight  into  his  eyes,  and  asked,  with 
a  voice  full  of  tenderness  and  sympathy,  "What  is  it?  " 

All  that  the  human  heart  can  feel  of  love,  Charles  felt ; 
all  thatthe  human  eye  can  speak  of  affection  was  spoken  ; 
all  of  devotion  that  the  soul  can  reveal  was  made  mani- 
fest. Love,  admiration,  and  devotion  were  there,  ming- 
ling with  that  one  sad  thought  of  early  separation.  He 
said  not  a  word.  He  took  from  his  breast  pocket  the  dis- 
patch and  placed  it  in  her  hand.  She  read. 
•  "March  with  your  command  to  Winchester  without 
one  moment's  delay.  Instructions  await  you  there.  By 
order  of  Governor  Letcher. 

"  [Signed]         Dabney  Reed." 

A  sharp,  cutting  pain  shot  through  the  heart  of  Helen 
Moore.  The  color  fled  from  her  cheeks;  her  body  trem- 
bled with  emotion.  She  realized  the  terrible  blow;  it 
meant  war,  danger,  separation,  perhaps  death.  The  idea 
of  parting  had  never  before  occurred  to  her.     It  burst 


382  YANSrie^fi  t)60DLl5  bixifi, 

now  upon  her  dream  of  felicity,  and  for  a  moment  seemed 
to  shatter  her  every  hope.  Hot  tears  sprang  into  her  eyes 
and  rolled  over  her  now  pale  cheeks.  Charles  drew  her 
to  his  bosom,  kissed  away  from  her  streaming  eyes  the 
heavy  distillations  of  sorrow.  She  did  not  repulse  him, 
for  there  are  moments  of  mingled  sorrrow  and  sympathy 
which  hallow  the  caresses  of  affectioUo  He  tried  to  com- 
fort her.  He  told  her  of  his  love, his  devotion, his  undying 
attachment.  He  tried  to  make  her  think  that  the  trou- 
ble would  soon  end  and  all  would  be  well  again;  but  she 
seemed  to  realize  that  all  this  were  but  the  words  of  affec- 
tion, intended  to  check  her  grief;  and  so  her  bosom  con- 
tinued to  heave  and  her  tears  to  floWo  At  length  he 
ventured  to  tell  her  of  his  resolve  not  to  go  until  the 
next  week,  but  to  wait  and  make  her  his  wife  in  the  ful- 
filment of  the  brighest  hope  of  his  life.  When  he  said 
this  Helen  became  calm.  She  dried  her  tears.  She 
pressed  her  hands  to  her  heart  to  still  its  throbbing. 
Then  she  clasped  her  arms  around  his  neck  and  drew 
his  head  down  and  kissed  his  lips„  He  smiled  at  the 
sweet  caress;  he  thought  he  had  pleased  her;  he  was 
glad  his  resolve  had  met  with  her  approbation,  but  this 
delusion  was  only  for  a  single  moment;  for  she  took  his 
hands  in  hers,  and,  with  a  calm  voice,  said:  "  I  love  you 
with  all  my  heart,  but  I  will  not  come  between  you  and 
your  honor.  It  will  almost  kill  me  to  see  you  go,  but  it 
would  be  a  living  death  to  have  you  stay  and  tarnish 
the  glory  of  your  name,  which  is  dearer  to  me  a  thousand 
times  than  life  itself." 

Woman  is  stronger  than  man.  She  is  braver  in  all 
that  goes  to  make  up  moral  courage.  She  is  possessed  of 
fortitude,  ready  to  meet  and  baffle  misfortunes,  that  man 
can  never  boast.  She  is  blessed  with  a  spirit  of  confiding 
trust  that  comes  down  from  on  high,  which  will  sustain 
her  amidst  the  most  overwhelming  reverses  of  fortune, 
the  like  of  which  man  can  never  feel.  When  disaster 
overtakes  man,  he  yields  up  his  energy  and  cowers  in  de- 


'YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  888 

spair.  "When  grief  falls  upon  a  woman  and  covers  her 
with  its  shadows,  her  faith  in  the  heavenly  promise  shines 
through  the  gathering  mist  with  a  light  and  a  love  that 
is  truly  sublime.  There  is  in  the  heart  of  every  true 
woman,  a  spark  of  celestial  fire,  which  lies  dormant  in 
the  bright  light  of  prosperity;  but  let  disaster  come;  let 
darkness  fall;  let  adversity  threaten,  and  this  spark  of 
heavenly  fire  will  kindle  into  a  blaze,  that  will  loom  up 
into  glowing  beams  more  radiant  than  the  glory  of  the 
Bun.  The  spirit  of  man  will  break  down  and  droop 
under  the  veight  of  disaster,  like  the  sails  of  a  helpless 
ship  in  the  breathless  calm  of  the  ocean ;  but,  with 
woman,  disaster,  misfortune,  adversity,  only  serve  to 
awaken  all  the  nobler  attributes  of  her  nature,  and  give 
intrepidity  and  elevation  to  her  character. 

Charles  Reed  was  among  the  noblest  of  noble  men,  but 
he  was  ready  when  misfortune  came  to  turn  aside  from 
the  path  of  duty  into  the  pleasing  walks  of  gratified 
affection;  but  Helen  Moore  was  among  the  noblest  of 
noble  women,  and  she  was  equal  to  the  occasion  when 
duty  demanded  the  sacrifice.  Helen  Moore  loved  Charles 
Reed,  but  she  loved  his  honor  as  she  loved  her  own,  and 
she  could  not  let  her  affections  be  the  weight  to  drag  him 
down,  nor  would  she  allow  her  grief  at  the  thought  of 
parting,  distress  him  in  the  sore  hour  of  his  trials.  She 
looked  up  into  his  face  and  smiled  her  sweetest  smile  of 
comfort  and  encouragement,  and  showed  the  pride  she 
felt  kindling  in  her  heart  when  she  called  him  "  my  brave 
soldier  boy."  She  bade  him  go  and  serve  his  country 
with  a  zeal  equal  to  his  love  for  her,  and  she  would  fol- 
low him  with  her  prayers  and  love  him  a  thousand 
times  more  for  the  dangers  he  should  dare. 

Charles  saw  that  she  was  right;  he  saw  the  true 
nobility  of  her  nature  and  the  unselfishness  of  her 
character,  and  in  his  heart  he  thanked  her  for  the 
example  she  set  for  him.  He  clasped  her  in  his  arms  in 
a  transport  of  joy  and  covered  her  cheek  with  caresses. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

ON  the  19th  of  April,  two  days  after  Virginia  seceded 
the  small  Federal  garrison  at  Harper's  Ferry,  for  rea- 
sons best  known  only  to  themselves,  evacuated  the  place, 
having  /irst  attempted  to  destroy  the  Arsenal  there,  and 
retired  across  the  Potomac  river  into  Maryland.  This 
building  was,  however,  saved  from  destruction  by  the 
timely  arrival  of  a  few  Virginia  forces,  and  a  greater  por- 
tion of  the  machinery,  and  a  very  large  number  of  val- 
uable arms,  saved  to  the  State.  On  the  same  day  the 
great  naval  depot  in  the  Norfolk  harbor  was  evacuated  by 
the  Federal  authorities  after  a  partial  destruction,  and 
the  troops  transferred  to  Fortress  ]\Ionroe.  By  this  time, 
short  as  it  may  seem,  an  army  of  seventy-five  thousand 
men  had  been  gathered  at  Washington,  which  was  quickly 
increased  by  troops  enlisting  tinder  Mr.  Lincoln's  second 
call  to  150,000  men. '  This  yast  host,  the  largest  army 
that  had  ever  assembled  on  the  western  continent,  was 
intended,  for  the  most  part,  to  operate  directly  against 
Virginia. 

It  would  seem  that  the  plans  cf  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment for  crushing  the  South  were  in  brief  these:  To  send 
an  army  into  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  occupy  it;  to 
take  possession  of  Kentucky  and  check  any  Southern 
movement  there;  while  the  third  objective  point  was  the 
city  of  Richmond,  which  it  was  "understood  would,  and 
did  soon  become,  the  capital  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

This  move  against  Pichmond  was  to  consist  of  four 
columns — one  from  Fortress  ]\Ionroe  by  the  way  of  the 
Peninsula;  one  from  the  northwest  by  the  way  of  Staun- 
(384) 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  885 

ton ;  one  from  Pennsylvania  by  the  way  of  "Winchester 
and  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  while  the  fourth  and  main 
column  was  from  Washington  by  the  way  of  Alexandria 
and  Manassas  Junction.  The  whole  to  be  under  the 
command  of  General  Winfield  Scott,  of  Mexican  fame. 

The  immediate  command  of  the  army  of  the  north- 
west was  given  to  General  George  B.  McClellan.  The 
army  of  the  Peninsula  was  placed  under  the  command  of 
General  Butler.  General  Patterson  was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  the  army  intended  to  move  by  the  way  of 
Winchester,  while  the  main  column,  styled  the  army  of 
the  Potomac,  and  moving  by  the  way  of  Alexandria  upon 
Manassas  Junction,  was  commanded  by  General  Irwin 
McDowell,  an  officer  of  great  skill  and  ability. 

General  McClellan  had  under  his  command  in  the 
army  of  the  northwest  about  10,000  men.  General  Pat- 
terson had  something  more  than  18,000.  There  were 
about  20,000  in  the  army  of  the  Peninsula,  while  the 
grand  army  of  the  Potomac,  under  General  McDowell, 
numbered  60,000  men. 

To  meet  this  mighty  host  Virginia  had  to  depend  upon 
volunteer  companies,  armed  for  the  most  part  by  the  sol- 
diers themselves,  together  with  a  few  Southern  troops, 
which  had  been  hastened  to  her  relief. 

The  Virginia  forces  at  Harper's  Ferry  were  placed  un- 
der the  command  of  Col.  T.  J.  Jackson,  M'ho  subsequently 
became  the  celebrated  Stonewall.  When  Charles  Reed, 
now  Captain  Reed,reached  Winchester  with  his  command 
he  found  awaiting  him  there  orders  to  report  to  Colonel 
Jackson  at  Harper's  Ferry,  which  he  did  without  delay. 

When  Colonel  Jackson  assumed  command  at  Harper's 
Ferry  he  proceeded  at  once  to  organize  the  companies  of 
volunteers  assembled  there  into  regiments,  and  to  dili- 
gently instruct  them  in  military  drill  and  discipline,  and 
to  fortify  the  place  as  best  he  could,  so  as  to  resist  any 
advance,  which  might  be  made  by  General  Patterson  by 
25 


38G  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

that  route.  But  Virginia  having,  on  the  2d  of  May, 
united  her  fortune  with  that  of  the  Southern  Confederacy, 
General  Josepli  E.  Johnston,  of  the  Co  S.  A.,  was  ordered 
to  Harper's  Ferry  and  immediately  assumed  command  of 
all  forces  operating  in  the  Valley.  Wliereupon  the  2d, 
4th,  6th,  27th  and  33d  Virginia  regiments  were  organ- 
ganized  into  a  brigade.  Colonel  Jackson  was  promoted 
to  brigadier-general,  and  placed  in  command,  and  thus 
began  the  history  of  the  celebrated  brigade,  which  will 
live  in  story  and  in  song,  while  liberty  and  heroism  have 
votaries  in  the  world. 

The  Federal  commander,  General  Patterson,  having 
now  approached  the  Potomac  by  the  way  of  the  great 
Pennsylvania  V^alley,  northwest  of  Harper's  Ferry,  to  the 
little  village  of  Williamsport,his  purpose  being  to  effect  a 
junction  with  General  McClellan  at  Winchester.  General 
Johnston  broke  up  his  camp  at  Harper's  Ferry  June  16th, 
and  fell  back  to  Winchester. 

By  this  time  General  Johnston  had  received  some  ad- 
ditional reinforcements,  and  now  had  under  his  command 
about  8,000  men.  On  the  19th  of  June  General  Jack- 
son was  sent  with  his  brigade  to  watch  the  enemy,  who 
were  then  crossing  the  Potomac  river  at  AVilliamsport, 
but  as  Jackson  advanced  Patterson  re-crossed  to  the  Mary- 
land side  of  the  river,  without  hazarding  a  battle.  As 
soon  as  the  Federals  had  re-crossed  the  river  General  Jack- 
son went  into  camp  a  little  north  of  Martinsburg,  having 
posted  Captain  Reed  with  his  company  of  cavalry  in  his 
front  to  do  picket  duty  and  keep  watch  over  the  enemy. 
On  the  2d  of  July,  Patterson  again  crossed  to  the  south 
side  of  the  Potomac  with  his  whole  force,  about  18,000 
men,  and  advanced  towards  Jackson's  camp,  who  immedi- 
ately struck  his  tents  and  ordered  his  men  under  arms. 
General  Johnston  had  instructed  General  Jackson  to  watch 
the  enemy  closely,  and  if  he  advanced  with  full  force  to 
retire  until  he  was  supported  by  a  body  of  his  friends. 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  387 

In  accordance  with  these  instructions  Jackson  advanced 
the  Fifth  regiment  to  meet  the  Federals,  taking  with  him 
Captain  Reed's  company  of  cavahy  and  one  field-piece  of 
Pendleton's  battery.  With  this  force,  which  in  all  amounted 
to  some  500  men,  he  met  the  Federal  advance  near  Mar- 
tinsburg,  and  so  vigorous  was  his  assault  the  enemy  fell 
back  to  their  main  column,  which  then  advanced  in  a 
body,  but  were  again  repulsed ;  but  by  this  time  perceiv- 
ing the  smallness  of  the  force  that  was  holding  them  in 
check,  the  Federal  army  extended  both  of  its  wings  with 
the  view  of  enveloping  Jackson  in  their  folds.  At  this  mo- 
ment Jackson  sent  an  order  to  the  colonel  commanding  the 
Fifth  regiment  to  retire  his  men,  but  so  anxious  were  they 
to  meet  the  enemy  and  try  their  strength,  they  were  slow 
in  obeying  the  order,  and  lingered  in  their  position  until 
their  right  flank  was  turned  and  their  retreat  almost  en- 
tirely cut  off,  and  would  have  been  cut  off,  but  for  the 
fact  that  Captain  Reed,  anticipating  the  enemy's  move- 
ments, made  a  detour  around  a  hill  and  taking  the  enemy's 
left  wing  in  the  rear  in  a  most  gallant  charge,  broke  the 
Federal  line  in  two  and  captured  some  fifty  or  more  pris- 
oners. By  this  time  Johnston  had  come  up  with  his  full 
force  and  the  Federals  fell  back  to  Martinsburg.  John- 
ston continued  in  position  for  four  days  expecting  Patter- 
son to  come  out  and  fight,  but  it  did  not  seem  that  Pat- 
terson was  disposed  to  accept  the  challenge,  although  he 
had  18,000  men  while  Johnston  only  had  8,000. 

On  the  15th  day  of  July  Patterson  advanced  his  left 
wing  to  Bunker  Hill,  where  Johnston  came  out  to  meet 
him,  but  instead  of  making  an  attack  he  again  extended 
his  left  wing  to  Smithfield,  seemingly  with  the  view  of 
surrounding  General  Johnston,  but  in  reality  to  place  him- 
self in  position  to  co-operate  with  General  ^IcDowell  at 
Manassas  Junction,  who  was  about  to  assail  the  Confede- 
rate forces,  under  the  command  of  General  Beauregard 
at  that  point. 


388  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

This  little  battle  of  Martinsburg  was  in  reality  but 
a  small  affair,  comparing  it  with  the  mighty  struggle 
that  was  soon  to  follow,  but  it  served  the  purpose  to 
show  the  mettle  of  the  Southern  soldiers  and  let  them 
see  what  they  could  do  when  they  tried.  Jackson,  in  his 
report,  declared  that  "both  officers  and  men  behaved 
beautifully,"  and  special  mention  was  made  of  the  gal- 
lant and  soldierly  conduct  of  the  brilliant  young  cavalry 
officer.  Captain  Charles  Reed. 

There  is  nothing  in  M-ar  so  essential  to  success  as  per- 
fect confidence  between  the  officer  commanding  and  the 
men  of  the  army  ;  for  every  man  that  comes  to  truly  love 
and  confide  in  his  commanding  officer,  becomes  a  hero, 
ready  to  go  where  he  is  ordered  and  ready  to  stand  where 
he  is  commanded.  An  army  then  becomes  a  perfect  ma- 
chine, capable  of  being  operated  with  almost  irresistible 
force.  Let  a  feeling  of  perfect  confidence  fill  the  breast 
of  every  man,  and  a  firm  conviction  that  there  will  be 
entire  concert  of  action  in  every  part,  and  a  spirit  of  de- 
termination to  do  or  die  will  prevail  that  no  earthly 
power  can  resist.  This  unbounded  confidence  between 
the  commanded  and  the  commander  was  the  grand  se- 
cret of  Napoleon's  wonderful  success.  His  men  believed 
him  to  be  invincible — one  of  the  immortals  that  was  not 
destined  to  die.  This  same  confidence  was  the  power 
w^iich  enabled  Alexander  to  conquer  the  world,  and  Csesar 
to  lead  his  victorious  legions  wherever  his  ambition  sug- 
gested ;  and  just  so,  this  little  affair  at  Martinsburg  filled 
the  First  Virginia  brigade  with  confidence  in  their  gene- 
ral commanding  which  made  them  a  stonewall  at  Manas- 
sas, so  solid  as  to  save  the  day. 

William  Dodge  had  lingered  in  New  York  that  he 
might  fully  recover  the  effect  of  his  wounds.  The  cuts 
on  his  fiice  had  now  healed,  but  they  had  left  marks  and 
scars  which  somewhat  disfigured  that  handsome  face 
greatly  to  the  mortification  of  its  vain  owner,  for  while 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  389 

William  Dodge  affected  indifference  his  heart  was  over- 
flowing with  self-importance.  His  hatred  for  Charles 
Reed  had  grown  with  the  revolving  days  His  thirst  for 
revenge  deepened  as  the  days  rolled  by,  and  extended  as 
the  widening  waves  as  they  run,  to  take  in  all  that 
Charles  Reed  loved,  his  father,  his  friends,  his  home,  his 
country,  his  native  Virginia.  The  civil  war  had  now 
broken  out,  and  William  Dodge  saw  thf»  opportunity 
which  it  presented,  not  only  "  to  turn  an  honest  penny" 
but  to  steep  his  very  soul  in  the  sweet  gratification  of 
hatred,  and  that  through  the  agency  of  the  General  Gov- 
ernment. So  prompted  by  these  ambitious  motives  he 
returned  to  Washington  and  obtained  through  some 
acquaintance  in  Congress  an  interview  with  Mr.  Seward, 
who  introduced  him  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  He  told  the 
Secretary,  Mr.  Simon  Cameron,  in  brief,  that  he  had  been 
educated  at  Hampden  Sidney  College,  in  Virginia  ;  that 
he  was  well  acquainted  with  Dabney  Reed,  and  exhibited 
the  late  letter  received  from  that  gentleman,  to  show  the 
terms  of  their  acquaintance.  He  then  stated  that  it  was 
his  purpose  to  enter  the  secret  service  of  the  Government, 
and  that  he  believed,  with  the  facilities  he  possessed  and 
the  introductions  which  could  be  had,  he  could  be  put  in 
position  to  furnish  the  Government  most  valuable  infor- 
mation. The  risk,  he  knew,  was  great,  and  the  expense 
would  be  considerable,  but  his  compensation  should  be 
in  proportion  to  the  value  of  the  services  rendered. 

The  Secretary  was  much  pleased  with  Mr.  Dodge,  and 
readily  acceded  to  his  proposition,  and  stated  that  the 
Government  was  anxious  just  at  that  time  to  secure  in- 
formation in  regard  to  the  Confederate  forces  organizing 
under  General  Beauregard  at  Manassas.  The  Secretary 
told  Mr.  Dodge  that  recent  information  from  Richmond 
was  to  the  effect  that  Mr.  Dabney  Reed  had  been  pro- 
moted, and  was  now  commissioned  a  brigadier-general 
in  the  provisional  army  of  the  Confederate  States,  and 
was  with  General  Beauregard  at  Manassas. 


390  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

Before  tne  conference  endea  it.  was  agreed,  that  Mr. 
Dodge  should  write  a  letter  to  Mr.  Reed,  rather  on  the 
sympathetic  order,  and  expressing  a  determination  to 
come  South  as  soon  as  practicable,  and  if  the  Confederate 
States  should  consider  his  services  worth  considering,  to 
do  what  he  could  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  opposition  to 
coercion.  This  letter  w\as  to  be  stamped  as  though  mailed 
in  New  York,  and  Mr.  Cameron  was  to  see  that  it  ran  the 
blockade  successfully.  In  the  meantime  Mr.  Dodge  was 
to  proceed  to  Fortress  Monroe  and  to  work  his  way  from 
there  to  Richmond,  where  he  was  to  show  Mr.  Reed's 
letter  to  Governor  Letcher  and  ask  of  him  a  passport  to 
the  presence  of  Mr.  Reed.  Mr.  Dodge  was  to  profess 
perfect  ignorance  of  all  details  in  Confederate  matters, 
except  that  he  was  to  say  he  had  seen  from  some  North- 
ern paper  that  Mr.  Reed  had  joined  the  army  and  had 
been  commissioned  as  a  colonel.  He  was  also  to  intimate 
his  wish  to  serve  the  Confederacy,  but  desired  to  consult 
with  his  friend,  Mr.  Reed,  before  taking  any  decided 
action.  Mr.  Cameron  then  placed  a  purse  containing  one 
thousand  dollars  in  Mr,  Dodge's  hand,and  stated  that  three 
thousand  more  would" be  paid  if  full  and  accurate  infor- 
mation was  furnished  in  regard  to  the  forces,  disposition 
and  movements  of  General  Beauregard's  army. 

On  the  first  day  of  July  the  mail-bag  containing  Mr. 
Dodge's  letter  was  permitted  to  pass  the  Federal  lines, 
near  Leesburg,  and  the  same  day  was  carried  by  the 
trains,  on  the  Manassas  Gap  railroad,  to  Manassas,  and 
reached  Mr.  Reed  (now  General  Reed),  late  that  afternoon. 
On  the  2d  Mr.  Dodge  arrived  in  Richmond  and  proceeded 
at  once  to  wait  upon  Governor  Letcher,  and  to  acquaint 
him  with  so  much  of  the  programme  as  it  was  intended 
for  "  Honest  John  "  to  know.  Mr.  Dodge  had  lost  none 
of  his  suavity  of  manners.  He  was  still,  despite  the  total 
wreck  of  his  moral  nature,  the  same  graceful,  easy,  unas- 
suming, agreeable  conversationalist. 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  391 

He  apologized  to  the  Governor  for  presuming  to  call,  but 
expressed  the  hope  that  the  circumstances  would  justify 
the  intrusion.  He  stated  that  he  was  a  total  stranger  in 
Richmond,  but  by  no  means  a  stranger  in  the  State ;  that 
he  was  seeking  to  find  Mr.  Dabney  Reed,  who,  he  under- 
stood, had  joined  the  Confederate  army ;  his  object  being 
to  consult  with  Mr.  Reed,who  was  a  warm  personal  friend 
of  his,  as  to  the  propriety  of  entering  the  Confederate 
service.  He  further  stated  that  he  was  an  old  college 
friend  and  classmate  of  Charles  Reed,  and  had  spent  the 
hunting  season  last  fall  at  Mr.  Reed's  home.  He  then 
casually  presented  Mr.  Reed's  letter,  as  though  it  was  not 
a  special  matter  of  importance,  but  contained  some  allu- 
sion to  Mr.  Reed's  movements,  which  might  assist  the 
Governor  in  case  he  was  not  positive  as  to  Mr.  Reed's 
present  whereabouts. 

It  is  almost  needless  to  say  that  Governor  Letcher,  like 
every  one  else,  who  came  in  contact  with  this  most  extra- 
ordinary man,  was  more  than  pleased  with  him,  for  the 
fascination  of  William  Dodge  was  irresistible.  Governor 
Letcher  gave  Mr.  Dodge  a  passport  to  Manassas  Junction, 
and  told  Mr.  Dodge  that  General  Reed  commanded  one 
of  the  Virginia  brigades  in  General  Beauregard's  army, 
properly  styled  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia ;  that  he 
would  have  no  difficulty  in  finding  his  friend,  and  that 
he,  Governor  Letcher,  would  be  pleased  to  hear  from  him, 
and  would  be  glad  to  unite  his  efforts  with  those  of  Gen- 
eral Reed  in  any  direction,  that  distinguished  gentleman 
might  suggest. 

On  the  3rd  Mr.  Dodge  arrived  at  Manassas,  and  went 
at  once  to  the  headquarters  of  General  Reed,  wdio  was 
more  than  delighted  to  see  him,  and  manifested  it  by 
many  a  hearty  handshake  and  expression  of  warm  friendly 
greeting.  General  Reed,  at  the  time  Mr.  Dodge  came  in, 
was  busy  in  preparing  a  report  of  his  brigade,  which 
General  Beauregard  had  requested  should   be  furnished 


392  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

him  by  noon  of  that  day.  It  so  happened  that  General 
Reed's  clerk  was  sick,  the  general  was,  tiierefore,  compelled 
to  do  his  own  writing,  and,  as  Mr.  Dodge  was  an  accurate 
writer  and  rapid  pensman,  he  volunteered  to  act  as  an 
amanuensis,  which  offer  General  Reed  most  willingly 
accepted.  This  report  gave  Mr.  Dodge  much  valuable 
information,  besides  it  suggested  many  questions  about 
other  brigades,  which  General  Reed  did  not  hesitate  to 
answer. 

The  report  was  finished  in  due  time  and  General  Reed 
decided  to  ride  over  to  General  Beauregard's  headquarters 
and  take  the  report  liimself.  He  invited  Mr.  Dodge  to 
join  him  in  the  ride,  which  invitation,  kindly  extended, 
was  greedily  accepted,  and  as  they  rode  along  Mr.  Dodge 
gathered  up  much  information  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  the  troops  and  their  respective  positions. 

That  night  after  supper  as  General  Reed  and  Mr.  Dodge 
smoked  their  cigars  out  on  the  porch  in  liie  starlight, 
General  Reed  mentioned  the  reception  of  Mr.  Dodge's 
letter,  and  asked  pointedly,  *'AVhat,  Mr.  Dodge,  is  your 
idea  in  regard  to  entering  the  service  of  tlie  Confederate 
States?"  to  which  Mr.  Dodge  replied : 

"  I  have  no  very  definite  idea.  My  wish  is  to  consult 
with  3'ou  and  ultimately  to  adopt  your  views;  but  I  have 
been  thinking  if  the  Government  will  permit  it,  I  will 
act  as  a  volunteer  on  some  staff  until  I  become  familiar 
with  the  service,  and  then  I  would  like  to  go  over  into 
Maryland  and  solicit  recruits  for  the  Confederate  States 
army.  I  think  it  probable  I  could  raise  a  cavalry  com- 
pany over  there — possibly  a  regiment — as  I  am  well 
acquainted  in  that  part  of  the  State  bordering  on  the  Vir- 
ginia line." 

General  Reed  was  well  pleased  with  this  idea,  and  said 
that  the  Government  could  not  possibly  object,  and  that 
he  himself  would  be  glad  to  have  Mr.  Dodge  act  as  an 
aide-de-camp  on  his  staff  until  such  time  as  would  prove 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  393 

propitious  for  the  Maryland  enterprise.  In  due  time  Mr. 
Dodge  had  donned  the  Confederate  uniform,  and  the 
heavy  gold  lace  on  the  sleeves  and  the  three  shining  bars 
on  the  collar  entitled  him  to  be  addressed  as  "captain." 

Mr.  Dodge  was  particularly  anxious  to  secure  that 
three  thousand  dollars,  so  he  lost  no  opportunity  to  secure 
all  the  information  that  could  be  had,  nor  any  time  in 
writing  it  down  in  cipher,  the  key  to  which  was  known 
only  to  Mr.  Cameron. 

On  the  10th  Mr.  Dodge  found  an  opportunity  to  send 
a  letter  through  the  lines  addressed  to  Mr.  Cameron, 
which,  when  the  cipher  was  interpreted,  gave  full  account 
of  every  brigade  and  battery  in  the  army  of  Northern 
Virginia,  together  with  an  accurate  description  of  all 
defensive  works,  as  well  as  of  the  fords  and  roads.  When 
Mr.  Cameron  received  this  information  he  was  almost 
wild  with  delight;  it  was  the  very  thing  they  wanted; 
the  right  man  was  in  the  right  place.  Now  the  grand 
army  of  the  Potomac  could  advance  right  on  to  Rich- 
mond. Patterson  was  holding  Johnston  in  check  in  the 
Valley;  McClellan  was  engaging  General  Garnett's  atten- 
tion in  the  Northwest;  Beauregard  only  had  20,000  men; 
McDowell  had  sixty.  "  On  to  Richmond  "  was  the  watch- 
word; "On  to  Richmond"  the  cry;  "On  to  Richmond 
they  would  go,  or  they  would  know  the  reason  why." 
There  were  no  reinforcements  that  could  possibly  come 
to  Beauregard's  relief  after  he  was  attacked.  McDowell's 
big  army  could  walk  right  over  3Ir.  Beauregard  any 
morning  before  breakfast.  Richmond  would  be  taken, 
the  Rebel  chiefs  be  hung,  and  the  "boys  get  back  home 
almost  in  time  to  Dlant  corn" — "  certainly  in  time  to  cut 
wheat." 

There  is  no  mistake  in  the  affairs  of  men  so  likely  to 
prove  fatal  as  that  of  an  over-confidence  of  success.  Over- 
rate your  ability ;  underrate  the  strength  of  your  ad- 
versary and  a  slight  reverse  will  sweep  to  the  destruction 


394  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

of  a  Waterloo.  Napoleon  found  it  so,  when  he  met  Wel- 
lington; Darius  found  it  so,  when  he  met  Alexander; 
McDowell  found  it  so,  when  he  met  Beauregard. 

On  the  IGth  of  July  the  grand  army  of  tlie  Potomac — 
the  mighty  hosts  of  McDowell — left  their  entrenched 
camp  along  the  Potomac  and  marched  towards  Fairfax 
Courthouse.  Never  did  an  army  move  forward  to  battle 
with  higher  hopes,  brighter  anticipations,  or  prouder 
tread.  Ten  thousand  banners  fluttered  in  the  breeze, 
sixty  thousand  muskets  gleamed  in  the  morning's  sun, 
while  every  breath  of  air  floated  the  inspiring  strains  of 
martial  music.  It  was  no  secret  move;  no  stealth;' 
march;  no  cautious  advance,  but  open,  boastful  and 
grandly  proud.  The  display  was  imposing.  The  sight 
heart-inspiring.  The  spectacle  grand  and  sublime — aa 
army  with  banners,  moving  to  martial  music — all  that 
man  can  represent  of  power  and  strength  and  grandeui 
was  there,  and  a  nation  stood  looking  on  with  joyous 
pride  and  deep-swelling  emotions. 

The  whole  army,  and  all  the  people  of  the  North,  w^ere 
inflated  wath  positive  assurances  of  an  easy  victory.  The 
quartermaster  had  la'belled  the  j^ackages  of  supplies  "Foi 
Pichmond."  The  fanatics  among  the  volunteers  had 
supplied  their  pockets  with  ropes  to  hang  the  rebel  chiefs. 
Congress  had  adjourned  in  order  that  its  members  might 
go  and  witness  the  grandeur  of  triumphant  battle,  while 
long  lines  of  splendid  carriages,  filled  with  females, 
dressed  in  gorgeous  apparel  and  brilliant  flashing  colors, 
brought  up  the  rear  of  the  grand  invasion,  wuth  baskets 
of  champagne,  ready  for  the  feast  and  the  dance  that  was 
to  mock  the  cries  and  the  groans  of  the  dying  vanquished. 
Mr.  Horace  Greeley,  in  his  New  York  Tribune,  declared 
''  The  hanging  of  traitors  is  sure  to  begin  by  the  middle 
of  July.  The  nations  of  Europe  may  rest  assured  that 
Jeff.  Davis  &  Co.  will  be  swinging  from  the  battlements 
at  Washington  at  least  by  the  end  of  the  month ;  we  spit 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  395 

upon  a  later  and  longer  deferred  justice."  The  New  York 
Times  said,  "Let  us  make  quick  work  of  it.  Tiie  rebellion 
is  nothing  but  an  unborn  tadpole."  Tlie  Philadelphia 
Press  declared  that  "no  man  of  sense  could  doubt  that 
this  much-ado-about-nothing  would  end  in  thirty  days, 
and  that  the  rebel  ragamuffins  w  ould  fly  like  chaff  before 
the  wind  of  the  advancing  hosts."  But  let  it  be  remem- 
bered that  words  and  music  and  gay-fluttering  ribbons 
can  never  frighten  brave  men,  fighting  for  the  sanctity  oi 
their  homes  and  firesides,  and  the  principles  they  inher- 
ited from  their  forefathers.  On  the  17th  General  Beaure- 
gard moved  forward  and  assembled  his  whole  army  along 
the  south  bank  of  the  Bull  Run,  extending  his  line  from 
the  Stone  bridge  to  the  Union  mills,  a  distance  of  eight 
miles.  On  the  18th  General  McDowell  massed  his  forces 
at  Centre ville;  drove  in  the  Confederate  pickets,  and  at- 
tempted to  force  the  stream,  but  deep  water,  blazing  can- 
non and  rattling  musketry  proved  an  obstacle,  and  the 
jovial  sightseers  and  gay  camp-followers  were  subjected  to 
the  inconveniences  of  a  delay.  The  19th  and  20th  were 
spent  with  explorations  looking  to  a  flank  move  and  a 
smoother  road.  The  road  was  found,  the  route  was  discov- 
ered. The  Stone  bridge  w^as  to  be  the  via  sacra,  and  Sun- 
day, July  21st,  was  to  be  the  desecrated  day.  General 
Joseph  E.  Johnston  had  been  notified  by  telegram 
from  the  Government  at  Richmond  of  the  situation 
of  affairs  at  Manassas,  and  authorized  to  pursue  such 
course  as  he  3iiight  think  best  under  the  circumstances. 
The  same  day  General  Beauregard  had  notified  him  that 
the  time  had  come  for  him  to  render  his  aid  if  it  could 
be  done.  The  little  army  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley  was 
red  hot  /or  a  scratch  with  the  Patterson  party,  but  Gen- 
eral Johnston  thouglit  that  the  best  service  the  army  of 
the  Valley  could  render  would  be  to  prevent  the  army  of 
Northern  Virginia  from  being  defeated.  He  decided  to 
fly  to  Beauregard's  relief;  but  to  do  this  he  must  whip 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 


Patterson,  or  elude  him.  To  elude  him,  he  thought  the 
preferable  plan.  Late  in  the  day  on  the  18th  Johnston 
ordered  his  men  under  arms ;  tents  were  struck  and  the 
troops  marched  several  times  around  in  a  circle  to  aug- 
ment their  numbers  in  the  eyes  of  the  boys  in  blue,  and 
then  suddenly  struck  off,  in  an  opposite  direction,  through 
Winchester  and  on  to  the  fords  of  the  Shenandoah,  while 
the  cavalry  was  left  to  keep  up  the  show  They  galloped 
around  from  point  to  point,  raising  clouds  of  dust,  well 
calculated  to  deceive,  while  a  few  dismounted  horsemen 
mounted  stove-pipes  on  wagon  wheels  to  represent  frown- 
ing cannon. 

Patterson  rushed  to  arms  and  waited  in  breathless  silence 
to  catch  the  first  shouts  of  the  Rebel  yell.  He  waited  all 
the  afternoon,  and  waited  until  dark.  He  waited  all 
night  until  broad  daylight,  when  he  found  the  bird  had 
flown — not  a  "  seeesh  "  was  in  sight.  Johnston  marched 
on  towards  the  Shenandoah  river;  the  men  murmured; 
they  were  dissatisfied ;  they  wished  to  front  the  foe ;  their 
heels  they  did  not  wish  to  show.  When  they  reached  the 
river  a  halt  was  ordered,  and  a  circular  read  to  the  troops 
explaining  their  destination.  It  said :  "  My  soldiers,  our 
gallant  army,  under  General  Beauregard,  is  now  attacked 
by  overwhelming  numbers.  Your  commanding  general 
hopes  that  these  troops  will  step  out  like  men  and  make 
a  forced  march  to  save  the  country."  At  this  inspiring 
call,  every  countenance  brightened  with  joy ;  every  face 
was  wreathed  with  a  smile,  and  the  call  was  answered  by 
a  wild  and  ringing  shout  that  seemed  to  rend  the  very 
air.  The  troops  did  "  step  out,"  and  they  stepped  like 
men.  'Twas  sixty  miles  to  Manassas — thirty  to  the  near- 
est railroad  station — that  thirty  the  troops  accomplished 
by  the  early  morning,  and  the  infantry  placed  on  board 
cars,  while  the  artillery  and  cavalry  were  left  to  continue 
their  march  by  the  country  roads. 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  397 

The  president  of  the  railroad  company  promised  Gen- 
eral Johnston  that  his  whole  army  should  be  transported 
on  successive  trains  to  Manassas  Junction  by  Saturday 
morning.  But  there  was  an  enemy  in  Beauregard's 
army ;  a  traitor  on  General  Reed's  staff;  a  spy  dressed  in 
Confederate  gray.  There  was  a  collision  on  the  Manas- 
sas Gap  railroad ;  William  Dodge  could  explain  the  rea- 
son why  Johnston  was  delayed  one  day ;  his  army  did 
not  reach  Manassas  until  Sunday  morning.  It  was  a 
beautiful  day.  The  roseate  blush  of  the  early  dawn 
deepened  along  the  eastern  horizon  with  all  the  beauty 
and  softness  of  a  summer  Sabbath.  The  birds  greeted 
the  rising  sun  with  joyous  matins  of  swelling  songs  as 
sweet  and  melodious  as  ever  floated  upward  from  happy 
hearts,  while  the  air  was  soft  and  sweet  and  balmy,  full 
of  fragrance  and  freshness  and  the  delightful  aroma  of 
opening  flowers  as  ever  came  wafted  from  Ceylon's  spicy  isles. 
Nature  rejoiced  in  her  beauty,  smiled  in  delightful  reali- 
zation of  radiant  loveliness,  and  basked  in  the  sunlight 
of  heaven's  approval  and  the  Creator's  unfading  glory. 
All  was  light  and  life  and  love  and  smiling  gladness, 
that  God  had  made,  while  man  alone  was  vile.  He  alone 
came  forth  with  malice  and  impious  tread  to  practice  his 
bloody  orgies  before  the  Moloch  of  his  ambition. 

The  golden  light  of  the  rising  sun  had  hardly  flashed 
along  the  plains  and  exhaled  the  dews  of  the  morning, 
when  great  clouds  of  dust  were  seen  rising  into  the  quiet 
air,  which  showed  that  heavy  columns  of  the  Federal 
army  were  moving  along  the  Warrenton  turnpike  towards 
the  Stone  bridge,  two  miles  to  the  left  of  Beauregard's  posi- 
tion. Almost  simultaneous  with  the  rising  of  the  cloud 
of  dust,  one  puff  of  white  smoke  was  seen  to  shoot  up- 
wards from  the  crest  of  a  little  hill  near  Centreville, 
quickly  followed  by  the  deep  reverberations  of  a  cannon 
shot  that  went  rolling  over  the  hills  mingling  with  the 
scream  of  a  flying  shell  that  fell  to  the  right  of  the  Con- 
federate line. 


398  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

"A  signal  gun,"  said  Beauregard,  addressing  General 
Johnston  ;  and  instantly  the  whole  earth  seemed  to  trem- 
ble and  the  very  air  to  vibrate  from  the  terrible  crash  of 
fifty  opening  cannon.  Shell  and  shot  and  grape  and 
canister  fell  like  hail-stones  upon  the  heads  of  the  gallant 
patriots  that  held  the  right  of  Beauregard's  army.  The 
battle  had  begun.  The  Confederate  forces  were  stretched 
for  a  distance  of  eight"  miles  along  the  banks  of  the  Bull 
Run,  guarding  the  several  fords.  Where  would  the  main 
attack  be  made  ?  where  the  grand  battle  be  fought  ?  The 
position  of  the  Confederates  was  now  critical  in  the  ex- 
treme ;  sixty  thousand  against  thirty.  The  Federals 
might  mass  at  any  one  point  and  crush  the  opposing 
forces ;  possibly  sever  their  line  and  shatter  their  columns 
in  detail.  AVas  the  terrific  cannonade  on  the  right  a 
feint — a  ruse  to  draw  Johnston  and  Beauregard  there? 
then  to  rush  the  Federal  forces  across  the  Stone  bridge, 
sweep  to  the  rearof  the  Confederatelineand  crush  the  little 
army  with  one  terrible  blow.  Who  could  tell  ?  None 
could  know;  but  the  eye  of  genius  was  there  to  watch, 
and  the  spirit  of  chivalry  was  there  to  do  orto  die.  John- 
ston was  there,  Beauregard  was  there,  Longstreet  was  there, 
Evans  and  Cocke  were  there,  Jackson  was  there,  Bee  was 
there,  and  Dabney  Reed  was  there — immortal  names  that 
will  float  down  through  the  channel  of  time  so  long  as 
deeds  of  prowess  shall  stir  the  hearts  of  man  and  glory 
live  in  poetry  and  in  song. 

The  heavy  cannonade  to  the  right,  for  a  time,  dis- 
concerted the  minds  of  the  Southern  leaders,  and  sub- 
jected them  to  a  cruel  dilemma.  The  firing  there  deep- 
ened, the  rattle  of  musketry  was  now  heard  mingling 
with  the  roar  of  artillery  ;  the  battle  seemed  to  rage  there, 
but  what  means  yonder  cloud  of  dust  rising  to  the  left  of 
the  Confederate  army  ?  Three  brigades  were  to  the  right, 
two  brigades  to  the  left,  three  held  in  reserve  to  await 
developments.     The  firing  on  the  righl;  became  terrific— 


YANKEE  DOODLE   DIXIE.  399 

deafening — the  battle  must  be  there.  But  no ;  40,000  Fed- 
erals had  crossed  the  Stone  bridge.  Charles  Heed  sent 
the  dispatch ;  the  courier  came  like  an  arrow  from  the 
bow ;  his  horse  white  with  gathering  foam.  Evans 
and  Cocke  are  pressed  with  overwhelming  numbers — 
forty  thousand  to  five ;  still  they  stand ;  the  cannon- 
ade to  the  right  is  a  feint ;  the  battle  is  yonder  on  the 
left.  Reed  and  Bee  and  Jackson  are  hurried  there.  They 
lead  their  brigades  at  a  double  quick ;  now  the  Federals 
have  turned  the  left  flank  of  Evans's  line ;  the  men  can't 
stand ;  a  sheet  of  fire  surrounds  them ;  they  give  way. 
Johnston  and  Beauregard  gallop  to  the  front ;  they  ride 
along  the  line ;  they  call  upon  the  troops  to  rally ;  the 
field  is  swept  with  grape  and  canister ;  the  roar  of  the 
musketry  is  deafening,  and  the  air  is  full  of  death.  Jack- 
son and  Bee  and  Reed  come  up  ;  a  new  line  is  formed  ; 
the  battle  becomes  furious  :  the  slaughter  appalling.  Still 
out-numbered  three  to  one,  the  men  of  the  South  bare 
their  breasts  to  the  storm.  Again  and  again  the  Federals 
press  forward,  only  to  break  and  retire;  again  and  again 
they  bring  up  fresh  troops  in  solid  mass,  but  Southern 
courage  meets  the  gathering  hosts  with  a  galling  fire  and 
defiant  j^ell.  But  now  Bee's  line  is  broken  ;  he  calls  upon 
his  men  to  stand  ;  he  waves  his  sword  ;  he  points  to  Jack- 
son ;  he  shouts,  "  Stay,  men, stay — see  them  yonder  stand- 
ing like  a  stone  wall." 

They  rally  to  that  cry;  they  turn;  they  stay;  they 
stand;  but  the  immortal  Bee  falls  to  the  earth  covered 
with  death  wounds.  The  enemy  here  massed  for  the 
last  struggle  on  the  extreme  left.  Dabney  Reed  is  there. 
They  pour  down  upon  him  in  overwhelming  numbers — 
on  they  come,  a  furious  storm  of  gathering  wrath — fire 
and  smoke  and  dust  roll  and  sway  and  surge  and  boil; 
and  booming  cannon  and  shrieking  shell  and  screaming 
shot  and  roaring  musketry  mingle  with  the  shouts  of 
men  and  the  groans  of  death.     Up  to  the  very  muzzles 


400  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 


of  Keed's  guns  they  come — the}' penetrate  his  lines;  they 
grapple  in  the  struggle.  The  odds  against  Reed  are  ter- 
rible ;  he  is  furious  in  the  excitement  of  raging  battle ; 
he  rushes  from  point  to  point;  he  waves  his  sword;  he 
shouts  to  his  men,  "  For  the  honor  of  Old  Virginia,  stay — 
rally,  men,  rally ;  rally,  for  the  love  of  God — the  safety 
of  your  homes  and  your  mothers'  fame!"  Charles  Reed 
sees  that  struggle.  He  sees  his  father  sway  in  the  saddle; 
he  sees  him  reel  to  one  side  and  then  up  again ;  he  sees 
his  face  red  with  flowing  blood,  but  he  sees  no  more;  he 
calls  upon  his  men  to  follow;  he  leads  them  to  the 
charge ;  he  sweeps  like  a  flaming  fire  right  upon  that 
mass;  in  among  them  he  leads  his  troops,  his  sword 
flashing;  right  and  left  they  sabre  the  astonished  Feder- 
als down;  they  recoil;  they  give  way.  Jackson  charges 
from  the  right.  The  Federal  line  is  broken;  they  fly; 
they  are  seized  with  a  j-ianic;  they  rush  for  the  Stone 
bridge ;  their  artillery  is  taken.  Charles  Reed  leaps 
from  his  horse  and  turns  the  guns  on  the  flying  foe ;  his 
men  man  every  gun  and  terrible  slaughter  is  made  of 
the  fleeing  mass.  The  victory  is  complete.  The  whole 
army  of  ]\IcDowell  is  routed.  They  rush  back  towards 
Washington:  Charles  Reed  still  leading  his  men  in  hot 
pursuit.  He  had  just  gathered  up  his  reins  and  called 
upon  liis  men  to  charge  again  when  a  pistol  shot  is  heard 
behind  him.  He  is  seen  to  reel  in  his  saddle  and  fall  to 
the  ground,  just  as  an  officer  dressed  in  Confederate  gray, 
showing  the  rank  of  captain,  shot  past  him  with  a  pistol 
in  his  hand  and  disappeared  in  the  brush  to  the  right. 
No  one  saw  his  face;  no  one  recognized  his  form; 
none  could  tell  who  he  was,  or  how  he  came  there — • 
treachery,  but  who  was  the  traitor?  Night  closes  over 
the  battle-field  and  the  pale  moon  climbs  the  eastern 
sky  and  looks  down  on  a  sickening  sight.  Five  tliousand 
dead  bodies  lay  there  coM,  and  still  and  silent,  ghastly  in 
the  white  light  of  the  harvest  moon;  while  ten  thousand 


I 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  401 

wounded  men  mingled  their  groans  with  the  sighs  of  the 
night  wind. 

On  a  pile  of  straw,  in  a  rude  hut  close  to  the 
Stone  bridge,  lay  a  young  man  dressed  in  a  captain's 
uniform.  The  yellow  braid  on  his  gray,  handsome  suit 
showed  that  he  belonged  to  the  Confederate  cavalry. 
Who  was  he?  Why  should  such  marked  attention  be 
shown  him?  Why  should  Johnston  and  Beauregard  and 
Jackson,  and  Evans  and  Cocke  and  Dabney  Reed, 
wounded  as  the  latter  was,  gather  around  that  bed  of  straw? 
The  reader  shall  know:  that  gallant  soldier  lying  there 
had  done  much  to  contribute  to  the  glory  of  that  day's 
victory.  He  had  struck  the  blow  which  turned  the  tide 
of  battle.  He  had  turned  the  Federal  guns  upon  the 
flying  foe  and  converted  the  defeat  of  the  invaders  into  a 
complete  rout.  That  young  officer  lying  there,  shot  in 
the  side,  was  Charles  Keed. 

Among  the  many  who  gathered  around  that  bed  of 
straw  to  express  their  sympathy  for  the  wounded,  and 
their  great  admiration  of  the  gallantry  displayed,  was 
William  Dodge.  He  was  profuse  in  his  words  of  regret, 
and  more  than  profuse  in  his  words  of  commendation,  all 
of  which  was  very  unlike  the  William  Dodge  of  former 
times,  besides  even  Charles  could  not  help  noticing  the 
constant  change  of  expression.  He  seemed  to  be  in  mor- 
tal dread  of  something,  and  when  some  one  speaking  of 
the  circumstances  of  the  wounding  of  Captain  Reed, 
pointed  to  Dodge,  and  said,  ''The  officer  that  swept  passed 
us  was  about  his  size,  and  dressed  in  a  uniform  similar  to 
that."  William  Dodge  turned  deathly  pale,  complained 
of  being  very  warm,  and  left  the  room  and  did  not  return. 

When  Captain  Reed  was  taken  from  the  field  to  the 
nearest  house,  which  proved  to  be  nothing  but  a  laborer's 
hut,  it  was  supposed  that  he  was  mortally  wounded.  He 
was  bleeding  very  little,  but  the  nervous  shock  which  he 
had  sustained  was  very  great,  and  it  was  feared  that  he 
26 


402  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

was  bleeding  internally.  The  ball  had  entered  his  back 
near  the  spinal  column,  and  came  out  to  the  left  of  the 
front  centre.  Apparently  the  ball  had  passed  entirely 
through  his  abdomen,  and  if  this  were  so,  there  was  but 
little  hope,  if  any,  of  his  recovery.  Charles  was  told  the 
worst  fears  of  his  friends.  Dr.  Hall,  who  had  enlisted  as 
a  surgeon  in  the  army  and  was  serving  under  General 
Eeed,  bent  over  the  young  hero,  and  taking  Charles  by 
the  hand,  said,  in  answer  to  the  earnest  gaze  of  the  suf- 
ferer, "Charles,  my  friend,  my  dear  gallant  boy,  I  fear" 

he  could  not  go  on,  tears  of  deep  grief  filled  his  eyes,  his 
words  were  cut  short  with  choking  emotions,  down  over 
his  cheeks  the  warm  stream  of  affection's  prompting  was 
fast  flowing.  The  good  old  doctor  could  say  no  more,  his 
heart  w;as  too  full  for  words,  but  he  bent  low  on  one  knee 
and  raised  the  hand  of  his  w^ounded  friend  and  pressed  it 
to  his  lips.  The  scene  was  deeply  affecting.  Those  brave 
men  who  stood  there,  Johnston  and  Beauregard,  and 
Jackson  and  Evans  and  Cocke — men,  who  but  an  hour 
ago  stood  amid  the  storm  of  battle,  and,  with  a  courage 
that  the  world  wdll  love  to  honor  to  the  end  of  time,  led 
heroes  on  to  do  heroic  deeds,  now  bent  their  heads  and 
wept  like  little  children.  Charles  saw  it  all,  he  under- 
stood it ;  those  sad  faces,  those  heaving  chests,  those  deep 
sobs,  those  flowing  tears,  told  him  they  thought  he  must 
die.  He  looked  around  at  his  friends  with  an  expression 
of  sadness,  mingled  with  gratification  ;  for  who,  even  in 
the  hour  of  death,  can  help  feeling  that  it  is  sweet  to  be 
loved.  Charles  Reed  was  brave — naturally  brave ;  he 
had  gone  into  that  grand  charge  with  his  heart  burning 
with  enthusiastic  valor,  and  led  his  gallant  squadron 
right  up  to  the  very  cannon's  mouth,  without  one  thought 
of  fear.  His  spirit  glowed  with  heroic  fire,  and  the  kind- 
ling light  showed  him  the  path  of  duty  and  the  knowl- 
edge of  certain  death  could  not  liavc  checked  him  in  that 
splendid  onset ;  and  now  that  he  was  wounded  nigh  unto 


YANKEK    DOODLE    DIXIE.  403 

death,  the  same  brave  heart  and  the  same  spirit  of  heroic 
Christian  fortitude  sustained  and  comforted  him.  His 
was  the  most  cheerful  face  tliere — his  the  only  smile  of 
all  those  gathered  around.  He  called  his  father  to  him, 
and  as  he  came,  bent  with  sorrow,  almost  broken-hearted 
with  grief,  and  knelt  beside  the  bed,  Charles  took  his 
hand,  and  said,  *'  Father,  do  not  be  cast  down ;  if  I  die, 
you  will  have  the  comforting  assurance  that  I  died  fight- 
ing for  the  land  we  love,  and  that  I  will  carry  with  me 
to  my  grave  that  sweet  invocation,  'Be  not  afraid, it  is  I.' 
But,  father, let  me  say,  our  good  old  friend  the  doctor  here 
may  know  best,  yet  I  do  not  feel  that  I  am  going  to  die; 
I  do  not  believe  that  I  am  to  die  at  the  hand  of  a  traitor. 
In  my  heart  there  is  something  that  tells  me  that  God 
will  spare  me  for  a  nobler  death." 

This  cheerfulness  on  the  part  of  the  brave  young  offi- 
cer gave  his  friends  some  hope  of  his  recovery.  Dr.  Hall 
then  gave  Charles  a  potion  to  quiet  his  nerves  and  pro- 
duce sleep,  thinking  it  would  be  best  not  to  probe  the 
wound,  as  the  probe  could  do  no  good  and  might  do  very 
great  harm. 

That  night  General  Reed  telegraphed  Colonel  Moore : 
"A  great  battle  has  been  fought — our  armies  are  victo- 
rious— Charles  is  seriously,  we  fear,  mortally  wounded." 
This  sad  news  fell  upon  Helen's  heart  like  a  mill-stone, 
crushing  the  very  life  out  of  her,  yet  she  did  not  weep. 
She  only  clasped  her  hands  and  pressed  them  against  her 
heart  with  all  her  might,  as  she  said  to  her  father  :  "My 
place  is  at  his  side ;  tell  Ben  to  order  the  carriage  at  once 
and  that  he  get  ready  to  accompany  me.  By  a  forced 
drive  I  can  reach  Charlottesville  in  time  to  catch  the 
morning  train  ;  by  noon  I  can  be  at  Manassas." 

Colonel  Moore  said  not  a  word  in  reply  ;  he  kissed  his 
daughter,  turned,  and  went  at  once  to  do  her  bidding. 
When  Helen  reached  Charlottesville  the  next  morning, 
she  telegraphed  General  Reed :  "Will  be  on  the  noon 
train.     Meet  me  at  Manassas  Junction." 


404  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

If  there  is  one  thing  above  all  others  that  should  ren- 
der the  civil  war  between  the  States  memorable,  and 
make  the  struggle  in  behalf  of  the  Confederate  cause 
glorious  the  world  over  in  the  hearts  of  home-loving,  pa- 
triotic people,  that  one  thing  is  the  heroic  conduct  of  the 
Southern  women.  All  that  love  could  do  ;  all  that  de- 
votion could  suggest ;  all  that  affection  could  prompt  was 
done;  all  that  self-sacrifice  could  bear ;  all  that  self-abne- 
gation could  endure ;  all  that  self-denial  could  stand  was 
borne,  and  that  with  a  cheerfulness  and  Christian  forti- 
tude that  made  their  bearing  grand  and  glorious  in  the 
sight  of  the  world  and  heavenly  exalted  in  the -sight  of 
the  Southern  soldier.  Reared  in  the  lap  of  luxury ;  nur- 
tured in  the  arms  of  tender  care ;  guarded  and  protected 
from  the  rude  winds  of  heaven  and  the  coarse,  rough 
manners  of  men,  modesty  and  bashfulness  and  maiden 
timidity,  joined  to  a  high  and  exalted  appreciation  of 
honor  and  manly  courage,  were  the  most  striking  char- 
acteristics of  the  Southern  woman.  She  had  never  jostled 
with  the  crowd  ;  she  had  never  elbowed  for  place  at  the 
public  gathering ;  she  had  never  pushed  for  room  amid 
the  struggling  stream  of  busy  life,  but  when  occasion 
called  her ;  when  her  country  needed  her ;  when  pain  re- 
quired her,  and  suffering  and  sickness  and  wounds  and 
bleeding  limbs  and  broken  bones  and  mangled  bodies 
and  dying  groans  invoked  her,  she  came  forth  from  her 
home  into  the  gloom  of  sorrow  and  suffering,  like  the 
stars  amid  the  shades  of  night,  to  dispel  the  darkness 
gathering  around  the  bed  of  anguish  and  to  shed  abroad 
the  light  of  hope.  I  have  seen  her  when  the  battle  raged 
around  her  unprotected  home;  when  the  sky  was  dark- 
ened with  the  smoke  of  furious  conflict ;  when  blazing 
cannon  and  bursting  shell  and  flashing  fire  filled  the  air 
with  the  terrible  missiles  of  death,  stand  with  her  loose 
hair  floating,  as  it  were,  on  the  tempestuous  tide  of 
surging  contest  and  wave  her  white  arms  to  cheer  on 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  405 

the  charging  squadrons,  and  when  the  battle  was  won 
her  arm  was  the  pillow  of  support  for  the  head  of  the 
dying  boy,  whose  home  was  far,  far  away  in  the  land  of 
the  sunny  South.  She  wiped  the  flowing  blood  from  his 
ghastly  wounds,  the  clammy  sweat  of  death  from  his  pale 
brow,  and  when  the  heroic  spirit  of  the  child-soldier  had 
taken  its  flight  from  the  battle-field  of  fame  upward  to 
the  land  of  peace  and  rest,  she  pressed  her  trembling  lips 
to  those  made  still  in  death  and  said :  "  Let  me  kiss  him 
for  his  mother !"  *  God  bless  the  noble  women  of  our 
Southern  land!  May  peace  be  their  portion  on  high,  and 
joy  their  reward  forever  and  forever! 

As  the  train  went  rushing  along  through  the  beautiful 
country  which  lay  between  Charlottesville  and  Manassas 
Junction,  Helen  sat  at  the  window  of  the  car  looking  out 
at  the  long  range  of  the  Blue  Ridge  mountains  which 
stretched  along  the  western  horizon,  but  her  thouglits 
were  not  fixed  on  those  far  off  hills,  she  was  thinking  of 
the  words  of  that  distressing  telegram,  "Seriously,  we  fear, 
mortally  wounded,"  but  strange  as  it  may  seem  though 
these  words  were  well  calculated  to  produce  the  greatest 
alarm,  for  it  was  natural  that  General  Reed  would  send 
the  most  ho2;)eful  message  possible,  yet  Helen  did  not  be- 
lieve the  wound  would  prove  mortal.  There  seemed  to  be 
a  strong  presentiment  in  her  mind  that  Charles  would  not 
die  and  this  mysterious  assurance,  come  from  whatever 
source  it  might,  made  her  almost  cheerful ;  but  as  the  cars 
rattled  on,  her  thoughts  would  dwell  on  those  strange 
dreams  which  she  had  experienced  of  him  months  before, 
and  now,  how  near  they  seemed  to  have  been  fulfilled.  She 
could  imagine  to  herself  how  it  all  must  have  happened; 
the  smoke  and  dust  and  cannon  and  musketry  and  shouts 
and  sighs  and  groans, and  the  gatheringof  friends  around, 
all  now  seemed  real,  only  that  strange  life  with  the  double 
face,  the  one  face  which  so  resembled  the  face  of  "William 

*  Incident  at  the  battle  of  Stevensburg,  October  11,  1S63. 


406  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

Dodge.  And  then  she  wondered  where  he  was,  and  what 
he  could  be  doing ;  no  one  had  spoken  of  him  in  any  of 
their  letters  home,  so  she  thought  he  must  be  still  in  the 
North.  Then  her  thoughts  came  back  to  Charles,  and  she 
became  impatient  to  be  with  him.  Uncle  Ben  sat  quietly 
behind  her  on  the  next  seat  and  shaded  his  eyes  with  his 
hand,  pretending  to  be  deeply  absorbed  in  thought,  but 
in  reality  watching  every  motion  which  Helen  made  and 
every  expression  of  her  face.  He  was  her  sole  compan- 
ion. Colonel  Moore  had  continued  to  grow  more  nervous 
and  feeble  since  the  war  began,  and  was  now  too  unwell 
to  leave  home. 

"Here  we  are.  Miss  Helen,"  said  Uncle  Ben,  as  the 
train  stopped  and  the  brakeman  called  out  *'  Manassas 
Junction,"  "  and  yonder  is  Mars  Dabney  wid  a  carriage." 

General  Reed  came  forward  to  meet  Helen  as  she 
stepped  from  the  car  and  hurried  her  on  to  the  carriage. 
Uncle  Ben  closed  the  door  and  climbed  on  to  the  box 
with  the  driver,  who  drove  off  without  delay.  But  little 
was  said  until  after  the  carriage  started,  then  Helen 
turned  her  eyes  and  looked  at  General  Reed.  He  under- 
stood the  look  of  silent  inquiry,  and,  as  he  noted  the 
earnest  expression  of  Helen's  face,  smiled  and  said, 
"  Charles  is  better.  We  think  there  is  no  danger  now. 
At  first  we  thought  he  would  certainly  die,  but  this 
morning  we  find  that  the  ball,  instead  of  going  straight 
through  his  body,  struck  the  lowest  rib  on  the  left  side 
and  passed  around  and  came  out  in  front.  AVe  have 
moved  him  up  to  my  headquarters  at  the  Lewis  House." 

The  wound  which  General  Reed  had  received  in  the 
battle,  though  painful  at  the  time,  was  by  no  means 
serious.  The  ball  had  struck  just  above  the  right  temple, 
split  the  scalp  but  had  not  broken  the  skull,  and  while  at 
the  moment  he  was  struck  he  was  considerably  stunned, 
he  was  now  able  to  attend  to  his  command.  When  the 
carriage  reached  the  headquarters  of  General  Reed,  Helen 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  407 

alighted  and  the  general  led  her  at  once  to  the  sick-room. 
Charles  was  delighted  to  see  her,  and  she  was  so  over- 
joyed to  find  him  out  of  danger  they  both  forgot  all  the 
terrors  of  the  past  and  gave  way  to  present  happiness. 
The  proudest  moment  of  a  soldier's  life,  when  it  falls  to 
his  lot  to  enjoy  it,  is  when  his  friends  tell  him  that  he 
has  distinguished  himself  for  gallantry — when  his  com- 
manding general  makes  honorable  mention  of  his  name 
in  his  official  report;  when  he  has  been  wounded  and 
made  much  of  by  his  brother  officers;  when  the  good  old 
doctor  has  pronounced  his  hurt  not  serious,  and  when  his 
sweetheart  comes  to  nurse  him  and  take  care  of  him,  and 
get  him  well  again.  Ah !  reader,  if  you  have  ever  been 
a  soldier;  been  wounded;  been  praised  for  gallant  con- 
duct, and  then  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  woman  you 
love,  to  be  nursed  back  to  health  again,  you  at  least  o-f 
mortals  here  below  have  known  what  it  is  to  be  perfectly 
happy.  Charles  was  happy;  Helen  was  happy;  they 
both  were  perfectly  happy.  The  sunlight  of  love  was 
shining  there.  The  peace  and  contentment  of  mutual 
trust  and  faith  filled  their  hearts,  and  heaven's  blessing 
seemed  to  rest  upon  every  pleasing  prospect.  Words  can 
never  tell  all  that  the  heart  can  feel ;  language  cannot 
paint  the  matchless  beauty  of  heaven-born  love,  no  more 
than  the  pencil  portray  the  lovely  tints  of  heaven-made 
flowers.  Helen  knelt  at  the  bedside  of  her  wounded  hero 
and  sweetly  chided  him  with  a  voice  of  affection  and 
tender  scolding.  She  stroked  his  brow  with  her  hand 
and  smiling,  said,  "My  bad,  bad  boy;  my  bad  little 
soldier  boy.  What  made  you  go  and  get  wounded  when 
you  knew  the  wound  would  hurt  me  the  most?"  "No, 
no;  not  one;  you  shan't  have  a  single  one," and  she  bent 
her  head  until  her  lips  almost  touched  his,  while  her  hair 
caressed  his  cheek,  while  she  half  pouting  to  make  temp- 
tation more  terrible,  shook  her  head  and  said  again,  "No, 
no;  no,  no  ;  you  shan't  have  a  single  one;  not  a  single 


408  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

one;  you  won't  obey  me  ;  you  will  go  where  the  naughty 
boys  play  ball  and  get  yourself  hurt ;  you  shan't  have  a 
single  one ;  not  a  single  whole  one;  only  this  little  wee- 
wee  one  on  the  brow  to  show  you  how  nice  I  could  be  if 
3^ou  would  only  be  a  good  boy — a  real,  real  good  boy." 
Let  the  curtain  fall,  kind  reader;  no  use  to  try  to  tell 
the  joy  of  these  two  hearts.  Love  like  that  is  "a  part  of 
Him  who  made  the  whole — a  glory  centering  in  the  soul." 
If  you  have  never  felt  it,  you  have  never  known  how 
sweet  it  is. 

Late  that  night  Helen  was  sitting  quietly  with  General 
Reed  in  the  library  at  the  Lewis  House,  the  room  which 
the  family  had  given  up  to  be  used  as  the  headquarters 
of  General  Reed.  Charles  had  dropped  to  sleep  some- 
thing more  than  an  hour  previous,  and  Uncle  Ben  was 
keeping  watch  in  the  sick  chamber,  with  a  vigilance 
which  showed  the  devotion  of  that  noble  old  black  slave. 

General  Reed  had  related  to  Helen  the  full  particulars 
of  the  battle,  but  more  especially  such  parts  of  it  as 
Charles  and  himself  had  been  engaged  in.  He  told  of 
the  terrible  onslaught  made  on  his  brigade ;  of  the  crush- 
ing masses  thrown  against  him ;  of  the  determined  and 
brave  advance  of  the  enemy  under  a  sweeping  fire ;  the 
final  piercing  of  his  lines ;  his  desperate  efforts  to  hold 
his  ground,  and  then  of  the  splendid  charge  of  the  cav- 
alry from  the  left,  led  by  Charles,  and  the  infantry  from 
the  right,  led  by  Jackson ;  the  breaking  of  the  enemy's 
lines;  the  capture  of  their  guns;  the  panic  among  their 
soldiers;  the  rout;  the  stampede;  the  pursuit ;  the  pistol 
shot ;  the  wounding  and  fall  of  Charles,  and  last  of  the 
mysterious  captain  dressed  in  Confederate  gray.  Helen 
heard  the  whole  story  through  to  the  end  without  a  com- 
ment, and  then  as  the  general  ceased  speaking,  sighed 
and  said,  "How  strange;  how  very,  very  strange." 

"  What  is  strange  ?  "  asked  General  Reed,  looking  at 
Helen  attentively. 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  409 

"The  coincidence  between  the  circumstances  which 
you  have  just  related  and  a  dream  I  once  had." 

"In  what  particular  circumstance  is  the  coincidence?" 

"  In  the  whole  battle,  but  especially  in  the  wounding 
of  Charles." 

"  Tell  me  about  it,  Helen ;  you  have  excited  my  curi- 
osity." 

"  You  will  laugh  at  me,  General,  and  think  me  weak 
and  superstitious,  for  it  must  have  been  very  childish  in 
me  to  think  of  it  again,  yet  struggle  as  I  may  that  horrid 
dream  will  come  into  my  mind  and  make  me  nervous ; 
but  I  will  tell  it  all  to  you,  and  trust  that  you  will  find 
some  excuse  for  my  folly.  I  never  told  Charles  simply 
because  I  felt  ashamed  to  tell  him  that  I  could  be  so  weak. 
It  is  the  only  secret  I  ever  kept  from  him ;  but  now  that 
the  dream  has  been  so  nearly  verified,  I  think  I  will  be 
justified  in  repeating  it,  but  still  you  must  not  think  me 
superstitious,  for  indeed  I  am  not." 

"  That  is  all  right,  you  can  trust  to  me  and  need  not 
fear  that  you  will  ever  fall  in  my  good  opinion." 

"Well,  to  begin.  You  remember  last  fall  when  Charles 
was  thrown  from  his  horse,  and  so  badly  hurt  ?  You 
remember  he  was  brought  to  the  Grove  in  a  state  of  un- 
consciousness and  laid  on  the  porch  ?" 

The  general  bowed  his  head. 

"Well,  I  will  not  try  to  tell  you  the  pain  and  anguish 
I  felt  when  I  saw  him  lying  there  pale  and  helpless.  I 
thought  he  was  dead,  and  I  felt  my  own  life  crushed  out 
of  me.  The  nervous  shock  was  terrible,  and  it  was  some 
weeks  before  I  fully  recovered.  During  that  time  I  often 
dreamed,  and  some  how  there  was  a  sameness  about  all 
of  those  dreams.  I  could  see  him  stretched  upon  the 
ground  bleeding,  lifeless,  pale.  He  seemed  to  be  sur- 
rounded by  friends,  many  of  them  deeply  distressed  and 
greatly  agitated.  Only  one  of  these  friends  seemed  to 
have  two  faces, two  voices  and  two  hearts,  and  the  strange 


410  yan;kee  doodle  dixie. 

being  with  the  double  life  seem  to  be  in  part  super- 
human. He  possessed  the  power  to  heal  and  the  power  to 
wound ;  the  power  to  attract  and  the  power  to  repel.  One 
of  these  faces  was  beautiful,  the  other  hideous ;  one  full 
of  noble  candor,  the  other  rigid  with  enmity,  selfishness, 
and  fiendish  hate.  And  likewise  the  two  voices  of  the 
mysterious  stranger  differed  the  same  as  the  two  faces. 
One  was  soft,  sweet  and  full  of  melody,  the  other  harsh 
and  painfully  discordant;  and  his  two  hearts  were  more 
unlike  than  his  two  faces.  One  was  full  of  love,  tender- 
ness and  sympathy ;  the  other  the  very  incarnation  of 
vile  corruption.  The  embodiment  of  deceit  and  base 
depravity,  a  perfect  cesspool  of  filthy  falsehood ;  and 
some  one  standing  near  whispered  and  said,  '  the  one  is 
as  he  seems,  the  other  is  as  he  is.' 

"Then,  too,  the  place  in  which  he  seemed  to  be  was  all 
strange  to  me.  It  was  far,  far  away,  some  distance  from 
home,  in  a  miserable  hut  he  was  lying;  and  just  before 
he  was  wounded — for  it  seemed  that  he  was  shot  and  the 
blood  had  stained  his  clothes — there  seemed  to  have 
been  great  excitement ;  men  rushing  here  and  there, 
horses  without  riders  speeding  over  the  plain,  while  men 
mounted  seemed  to  be  charging  at  each  other  and  cutting 
their  opponents  down.  And  then,  too,  there  was  a  terrible 
smoke  and  clouds  of  dust,  and  lightnings  flashed  and 
blazed,  and  deep  thunders  rolled  and  burst  and  echoed 
along  the  sky  and  shook  the  hills  with  its  dreadful  power, 
only  the  thunder  and  lightning  seemed  to  have  been  the 
work  of  men,  and  not  the  natural  storm.  And  mingling 
with  the  deep  roll  of  the  thunders  came  the  wild  shouts 
of  angry  men  and  the  sharp  cries  of  pain  and  groans  of 
despair,  and,  as  I  said,  some  of  those  who  stood  gathering 
around  Charles,  after  he  was  carried  to  that  miserable  hut 
and  placed  upon  that  bed  of  straw,  had  their  faces  bathed 
in  tears,  while  those  who  were  outside  were  all  excitement 
and  joyfully  exultant,  while  others  were  still  rushing  to 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  41  i 

and  fro  with  shining  guns  or  flashing  sabres  ni  their 
hands.  And  among  tliose  wlio  stood  at  tlie  bedside  of 
Charles  I  seemed  to  recognize  you  and  Dr.  Hall,  and  the 
good  old  doctor  tried  to  teil  Charles  that  his  wound  was 
mortal  and  that  he  must  die,  but  the  words  seemed  to  choke 
him  and  he  could  not  speak;  but  Charles  understood  him, 
and  turning  his  face  to  you,  smiled,  and  said, 'Not  so, 
father — not  by  a  traitor's  hand.'" 

When  Helen  said  this.  General  Reed  became  deeply 
agitated,  he  arose  from  his  chair  and  walked  back  and 
forth  across  the  room,  his  face  expressive  of  profound 
astonishment,  while  the  muscles  working  on  his  forehead 
showed  the  terrible  excitement  of  his  mind.  Back  and 
forth  across  the  room  several  times  he  passed,  Helen 
almost  frightened  by  the  excited  expression  of  his  face, 
she  sitting  still  watching  him  the  while,  until  he  stopped 
short  in  front  of  her  and  asked : 

"  The  man  with  the  double  life — did  j^ou  recognize  him ; 
would  you  know  the  face  should  you  see  it  again  ?  " 

Helen's  countenance  changed ;  she  looked  steadily  at 
General  Reed  a  moment,  then  let  her  eyes  fall  to  the  floor 
in  evident  embarrassment,  she  pulled  at  her  handkerchief 
and  hesitated  in  her  reply.  General  Reed  saw  her  embar- 
rassment and  understood  her  hesitation,  and  said : 

"  Speak,  Helen,  speak  plain  ;  did  you  recognize  the 
strange  man — would  you  know  him  if  you  should  see  him 
again?" 

"  Yes,"  she  said ;  "  I  did  seem  to  recognize  the  face  of 
the  man  with  the  double  life,  and  that  was  one  of  the 
strangest  and  most  disagreeable  parts  of  my  dream,  for  I 
know  he  is  a  very  dear  friend  to  Charles,  and,  besides,  he 
is  not  here,  but  way  up  in  New  York — at  least  the  last 
time  any  of  you  mentioned  him,  he  was  there." 

"  AVho  do  you  mean,  Helen  ? "  asked  General  Reed, 
almost  sternly. 

Again  Helen  hesitated  for  a  moment,  and  then  looking- 
up  said,  with  a  subdued  tone : 


412  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

"  You  will  not  tell  Charles  ?     I  mean  Mr.  Dodge." 

General  Reed  looked  at  Helen  as  though  he  would  read 
her  very  soul ;  his  face  rigid  with  its  expression  of  aston- 
ishment. She  looked  down  a  moment  and  then  looked  up 
again.  Her  lips  parted  as  though  to  speak  some  words  in 
behalf  of  the  defence  of  her  lover's  friend,  but  General 
Reed  stopped  her  with  a  gesture,  and  said . 

"  Not  another  word  more  to-night,  Helen ;  I  must  con- 
sider this  strange  story.  You  go  to  bed  now;  as  you  pass 
tell  Ben  to  come  to  me." 

Helen  arose  without  saying  another  word,  picked  up 
her  handkerchief  which  had  fallen  to  the  floor,  walked 
up  to  General  Reed,  kissed  him  good  night,  then  turned 
and  left  the  room.  She  felt  sad  and  depressed,  but  still 
there  was  something  in  her  heart  which  gave  her  com- 
fort ;  she  felt  that  she  had  done  right ;  she  had  relieved 
herself  of  a  burden ;  she  had  told  the  one  secret  of  her  life 
to  General  Reed,  the  father  of  him  whom  she  loved  and 
cherished  with  all  the  tenderness  of  woman's  devotion ; 
she  had  not  hid  her  thoughts  from  Charles  from  any  want 
of  confidence,  but  simply  because  she  felt  the  deepest  and 
most  earnest  desire  to  be  in  his  eyes  all  that  a  brave  and 
loving  woman  should  be.  She  had  not  told  her  father, 
because  she  had  noted  his  nervousness  of  late  and  the 
manifest  excitement  that  the  slightest  allusion  to  spirit- 
ualism in  any  of  its  forms  w^ould  produce.  She  had 
thought  of  speaking  to  General  Reed  before,  but  no  op- 
portunity had  presented  itself  as  he  was  away.  Besides, 
though  she  was  worried  and  distressed  by  these  dreams, 
she  did  not  believe  that  they  were  real  presentiments. 
But  when  things  had  come  to  pass  so  near  in  accord  as 
she  had  seen  them  in  her  sleep,  she  was  startled  and 
frightened  and  felt  that  she  must  speak,  and  so  she  did 
speak  to  that  one  she  knew  to  be  her  friend,  capable  and 
willing  to  advise  her  in  all  that  it  was  her  duty  to  do. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

WHEN  Helen  left  the  room  she  left  General  Heed 
much  more  excited  than  he  would  have  been  pleased 
to  admit.  The  strange  story  to  which  he  had  just  lis- 
tened struck  home  to  the  heart  and  started  a  train  of 
thought  that  was  in  direct  conflict  with  his  previous  con- 
tempt for  so-called  spiritualism.  No  sooner  had  the  door 
closed  behind  Helen,  than  he  arose  from  his  chair,  and, 
as  was  his  habit  when  disturbed  by  perplexing  thoughts, 
walked  back  and  forth  across  the  room  murmuring  to 
himself  in  half  articulate  words.  After  a  moment  he 
came  and  took  his  seat  again  nearer  the  table  and  me- 
chanically, the  rather  to  give  his  hands  something  to  do, 
picked  up  a  book  that  had  been  left  there  by  the  Lewis 
family.  The  book  proved  to  be  a  copy  of  Shakespeare, 
and  as  General  Reed  carelessly  opened  it,  his  eyes  fell 
upon  the  following  passage  from  Richard  III :  "  Give 
me  another  horse ;  bind  up  my  wounds;  have  mercy — 
Jesu.  Soft,  I  did  but  dream.  Oh !  coward  conscience,  how 
dost  thou  affect  me?  The  light  burns  blue.  It  is  now 
dead  midnight.  Cold,  fearful  drops  stand  on  my  trem- 
bling flesh.  My  conscience  hath  a  thousand  several 
tongues,  and  every  tongue  brings  a  several  tale.  Me- 
thought  the  souls  of  all  that  I  had  murdered  came  to  my 
tent,  and  every  one  did  threat  to-morrow's  vengeance  on 
the  head  of  Richard. 

"Sounds!  who  is  there? 

"  Ratcliffe,  my  Lord  ;  tis  I. 

"  Oh !  Ratcliffe,  I  have  dreamed  a  fearful  dream,  and 
by  the  Apostle  Paul,  shadows  to-night  have  struck  more 
fear  to  the  soul  of  Richard  than  can  the  substance  of  ten 
(413) 


414  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

thousand  soldiers  armed  in  jDroof  and  led  by  shallow 
Richmond." 

General  Reed  started  from  his  chair  more  excited  than 
ever.  *'  The  prophetic  dream  of  Richard,"  he  exclaimed, 
"foretelling  his  defeat  and  death.  Why  did  I  iall  upon 
that  passage  just  now?  Was  it  a  coincidence?  Why 
just  now  w^ien  my  brain  is  racked  by  Helen's  most 
strange,  most  remarkable  dream."  He  dropped  the  book 
upon  the  table  ;  it  struck  another  book  which  fell  to  the 
floor,  opening  as  it  fell.  He  stooped  to  pick  it  up  ;  a  leaf 
fluttered  out;  he  gathered  up  the  leaf — a  page  from  Haven's 
Mental  Philosophy ;  his  eye  caught  the  w^ords,  and  ho  read 
aloud:  "May  there  not  be  an  inner  consciousness:  a  hid- 
den soul-life  not  dependent  on  thebody  organization,  which 
at  times  comes  forth  into  development  and  manifests  itself 
when  the  usual  relations  of  body  and  soul  are  disturbed  or 
suspended  ?  For  we  must  admit  that  in  certain  disor- 
dered states  of  the  nervous  system,  the  soul  can  and  does 
sometimes  perceive  what,  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
is  not  perceptible  to  the  eye  or  to  the  ear.  Nay,  even 
dispenses  with  the  uses  of  the  so-called  senses  altogether, 
and  thus  by  some  law  of  our  being,  not  fully  under- 
stood by  us,  the  mind  becomes  susceptible  of  impressions 
not  ordinarily  received,  and  is  so  put  in  communication 
in  some  way  to  us  mysterious  with  scenes  and  events  far 
distant,  so  as  to  make  us  strangely  cognizant  of  the 
future." 

"What  does  this  mean?"  again  General  Reed  cried; 
his  excitement  increasing  beyond  his  control.  "This 
from  the  ablest  living  metaphysician  of  the  day ;  this 
from  Bishop  Haven,  of  the  Chicago  Theological  Semi- 
nary, and  to  be  presented  in  this  most  remarkable  way 
at  the  very  moment  when  my  whole  soul  is  absorbed  in 
the  subject.  Is  this,  too,  a  simple  coincidence,  or  is  there 
some  supernatural  agency  shaping  my  thoughts?" 
Great  beads  of  perspiration  stood  upon  the  general's  face. 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  415 

He  clinched  his  hands  and  gesticulated  wildly  as  he 
passed  to  and  fro  across  the  room,  speaking  in  half-sup- 
pressed tones  to  himself.  "  Can  it  Le  that  there  is  some 
law  of  our  being  by  which  the  mind  dispenses  with  the 
senses  and  becomes  susceptible  to  impressions,  so  as  to 
put  us  in  communication  with  scenes  and  events  far  dis- 
tant, so  as  to  make  us  strangely  cognizant  of  the  future  ? 
If  so,  can  it  be  possible  that  Helen's  dream  was  really 
prophetic,  and  that  William  Dodge  was  the  would-be  as- 
sassin? I  remember  his  strange  conduct;  I  recall  his 
embarrassment ;  I  noted  his  pale  face  and  abrupt  depart- 
ure when  Sergeant  Lee  pointed  to  him  and  said:  'The 
officer  that  swept  passed  us  was  about  his  size  and  dressed 
in  a  uniform  similar  to  that.' " 

"  Then,  why,  too,  was  he  in  such  hot  haste  to  get  away 
this  morning  and  go  beyond  the  Potomac  upon  his  re- 
cruiting scheme  ?  'Tis  strange,  'tis  strange,  indeed  ;  it  is 
passing  strange." 

Just  at  this  moment  the  door  was  opened  and  Uncle 
Ben  walked  in.  He  noted  the  flushed  face  of  General 
Reed,  and  understood  that  there  was  some  great  excite- 
ment which  held  possession  of  his  mind.  So  the  old  man 
quietly  closed  the  door  behind  him  and  stood  silent,  hat  in 
hand,  waiting  for  the  general  to  speak. 

''  Ben,  I  can  trust  you  ?" 

"  You  can.  Mars  Dabney." 

"Your  discretion,  Ben,  as  well  as  your  fidelity?'^ 

"  I  will  not  tell  what  you  tell  me  not  to  tell,  and  I'll 
try  to  do  what  you  want  me  to  do.  You  can  well  bleive 
dat,  Mars  Dabney." 

"  Well,  then,  Ben,  now  right  to  the  point:  What  cio  you 
know  of  William  Dodge?  You  must  have  seen  a  good 
deal  of  him  last  fall  at  the  Grove?" 

"Nothing,  I  might  say.  Mars  Dabney,  do  I  know;  bat 
I  thinks  II  great  deal." 

*•  What  do  you  think,  Ben  ?" 


416  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

"  I  thinks  that  he  is  not  what  he  makes  believe.  I 
don't  believe  he  is  any  friend  to  any  of  you." 

"  Why  do  you  think  that,  Ben  ?" 

"  Now,  Mars  Dabney,  you  ask  me  a  hard  question.  I 
can't  give  no  special  reason ;  I  only  know  that  somethin' 
tells  me  so,  and  my  heart  feels  dat  it  is  so.  He  knows 
dat  I  'spicion  dat  he  is  up  to  some  devilment.  Mars  Dab- 
ney, and  he  can't  look  at  me  straight  no  more  den  a 
sheep-killin'  dog  can  look  at  you.  He  is  got  a  bad  eye, 
Mars  Dabney,  and  de  man  what  is  got  a  bad  eye  is  sure 
to  have  a  bad  heart." 

"■  Did  you  ever  speak  of  this  to  any  one,  Ben  ?" 

"  Yes,  sar.  I  told  dat  'tective  what  you  sent  for  from 
Richmond  last  fall  when  somebody  tried  to  kill  Mars 
Charles.  I  thought  then,  and  I  think  now,  dat  disguised 
man  was  Mr.  Dodge." 

"  What  did  the  detective  say  to  j^our  suspicion,  Ben?" 

"  He  said  very  little ;  told  me  not  to  make  mention  of 
my  'spicion  ;  that  he  would  follow  on  de  trail.  I  heerd 
he  went  to  Washington  to  see  'bout  it,  and  dat  de  war 
come  on  and  he  had  to  give  it  up." 

*'  Yes,  I  remember  telling  you  that  myself ;  but  I  did 
not  think  of  Mr.  Dodge  as  in  any  way  connected  with 
the  assault." 

"I  did  do,  ^lars  Dabney,  and  I  thought  it  mighty 
strange  that  nobody  could  tell  whar  Mr.  Dodge  was  for 
some  time  arter  de  tempt  to  kill  Mars  Charles." 

"Do  vou  think  that  the  dog  could  have  hurt  the  man 
that  night,  Ben  ?  " 

"  I  knows  he  did — Ruler  was  a  powerful  dog — and  he 
had  de  man  dow^n  shakin*  him  when  de  man  cut  him  wid 
de  knife.  Ruler  must  have  bit  him  'bout  de  face,  for  dat 
is  de  way  Ruler  fights,     I  is  been  see  him  try  it." 

General  Reed  stopped  to  think.  Mr.  Dodgers  face  was 
badly  scarred  ;  Mr.  Dodge  had  decided  to  leave  the  mo- 
ment he  heard  that  old  Ben  was  coming;  Mr.  Dodge  had 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  417 

actually  gone;  Mr.  Dodge  had  never  given  any  account 
of  liimself  during  the  battle;  he  was  not  with  the  bri- 
gade, where  he  should  have  been.  General  Johnston  and 
General  Beauregard  were  both  confident  that  there  was  a 
spy  with  the  army  somewhere.  Papers  found  in  the  pos- 
session of  one  of  the  captured  Federals  showed  this  con- 
clusively. The  delay  of  the  troops  on  the  Manassas  Gap 
railroad  indicated  the  same.  Could  it  be  possible  that 
William  Dodge  was  the  man  ? 

"  Ben,  what  motive  do  you  think  Dodge  could  have  in 
trying  to  kill  Charles?" 

"  Plunder,  Mars  Dabney ;  'tis  whispered  about  dat  Mr. 
Dodge  done  hoodwinked  Mars  Beverly  and  'duced  him 
to  put  Mr.  Dodge's  name  in  his  wdll,  and  if  dis  be  true  I 
'spose  Mr.  Dodge  calculated  if  Mars  Charles  was  out  de 
way,  he  could  have  de  management  of  de  property  all  to 
heself." 

Again  General  Reed  stopped  to  think.  He  knew  that 
Colonel  Moore  had  made  some  changes  in  his  will.  He 
knew  that  Mr.  Dodge  was  in  some  way  named  in  the 
instrument ;  he  knew  that  Colonel  Moore  had  not  con- 
sulted him  in  the  matter  ;  he  knew  that  he  had  thought 
strangely  of  this,  because  he  himself  had  written  the  will, 
and  was  Colonel  Moore's  legal  adviser. 

General  Reed  sat  for  some  time  in  deep  thought,  pull- 
ing at  his  moustache,  as  was  his  habit  when  greatly  per- 
plexed. At  length  he  looked  up  and  said,  "Ben,  I  am 
going  to  telegraph  Mr.  Prosser  and  have  him  come  up 
here  at  once  and  ascertain  what  information,  if  any, 
he  succeeded  in  gathering  up  during  his  visit  to  Wash- 
ington. I  cannot  say  that  I  see  anything  connected  with 
this  matter  that  actually  criminates  Mr.  Dodge,  but  his 
guilt  has  been  suggested,  and  we  owe  it  to  him,  if  he  is 
innocent,  to  relieve  his  name  of  every  shadow  of  suspi- 
cion. On  the  other  hand,  it  is  our  duty  to  follow  every 
thought  that  may  arise  which  can  possibly  lead  to  a  cor- 
27 


41S  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

rect  solution  of  this  perplexing  matter.  But  you  must 
understand  that  whether  Mr.  Dodge  is  guilty  or  innocent 
it  is  best  that  not  one  word  escape  you  that  can  possibly 
put  Charles  to  thinking,  for  if  Dodge  is  guilty  he  will 
keep  up  the  deception  if  he  can,  and  he  will  more  easily 
fall  into  our  hands  if  Charles  continues  to  treat  him  in 
the  future  as  in  the  past.  Charles  will  have  no  part  to 
act  then,  and  Dodge  will  be  all  the  bolder  when  he  is 
certain  that  he  is  not  suspected." 

**  I  understand,  Mars  Dabney ;  you  can  trust  me  to 
keep  the  secret;  I  is  been  keeping  my  thoughts  to  my- 
self all  dis  time  for  de  same  reason." 

"  Now,  Ben,  I  want  you  to  follow  Mr.  Dodge  up  North 
and  see  what  he  is  doing.  As  you  are  a  colored  man  no 
one  will  be  likely  to  suspect  your  mission.  I  will  have 
Mr.  Prosser  go  with  you,  and  you  two  can  work  together. 
Prosser  is  a  skillful  detective,  and  he  will  show  you  how 
to  work  and  what  to  do." 

"All  right,  Mars  Dabney;  I  is  just  as  sure  dat  Mr. 
Dodge  is  a  bold,  bad  man,  as  I  am  dat  Mars  Charles  is  a 
good,  true  one  ;  and  it  will  be  de  joy  of  my  life  to  catch 
Mr.  Dodge  in  his  tricks.  Mars  Dabney,  I  is  been  seen 
Mr.  Dodge,  when  he  was  mad,  and  sure  as  my  name  is 
Ben,  de  debil  is  done  put  his  mark  on  dat  man ;  and  what 
is  more.  Mars  Dabney,  I  is  always  believed  dat  same 
debil  had  some  hand  in  dat  hurt  what  Mars  Beverly  got 
last  fall.  You  recollect  dat  it  was  me  dat  come  for  you 
and  ]\Iars  Charles  dat  night  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  remember  that,  Ben ;  but  what  of  that  ?  " 

"  Well,  when  you  and  Mars  Charles  run  to  get  your 
clothes  to  go,  Mr.  Dodge  he  couie  to  de  door.  I  looked  at 
him  and  he  looked  at  me.  He  seed  what  was  in  my 
mind.  He  never  axed  one  single  question^  I  believed 
dat  he  knowed  what  was  de  matter.  He  showed  it  in  his 
face.  Mars  Dabney,  did  you  eber  catch  a  dog  killin'  a 
sheep  ?,     Well,  if  you  is  you  knows  de  look  of  a  sheep- 


YAWKBB  BOODLB  DEDU*  ill^ 

Mllm*  dogl  T  doai't  linow  just  how  to  tell  ix,  "but  Mr. 
Dodge  had  de  look  of  a  sheep-killin'  dog  dat  night." 

"It  may  all  be  just  as  you  say,  Ben ;  still  we  have  all 
thought  so  much  of  Mr.  Dodge  I  can't  help  hoping  that 
your  suspicions  ar3  ill-founded ;  ,stillj  I  must  confess  that 
there  now  appear  to  my  mma  some  circumstances  that  1 
do  not  understand,  and  which  place  Mr.  Dodge  in  rather 
an  unfavorable  light.  But,  to  change  the  subject  a  little, 
do  you  think  you  could  disguise  yourself  so  that  Mr. 
Dodge  would  not  be  likely  to  know  you  ?  If  you  are  to 
track  his  movements  it  would  be  best  that  he  should  not 
recognize  you,  if,  by  any  chance,  you  and  he  should 
meet." 

"  I  aint  so  certain  'bout  dat,  Mars  Dabney  ;  I  nebber 
tried  dat  sort  of  thing,  but  I  will  think  about  it  to-night 
and  let  you  know  in  the  mornin." 

"  All  right,  Ben;  I  reckon  Mr.  Prosser  will  be  here  by 
the  noon  train,  and  you  must  be  ready  to  pass  our  lines 
during  the  night." 

"  Den  I  is  certain  for  to  go,  I  spose,  Mars  Dabney  ?  " 

"Yes;  I  want  you  to  go  and  keep  track  of  Mr.  Dodge, 
whether  Mr.  Prosser  comes  to-morrow  or  not." 

"  I'll  be  ready ;  you  can  count  on  my  bein'  ready.  Mars 
Dabney,  and  I'll  cotch  dat  debil  ef  he  can  be  cotched." 

"I  hope  so,  Ben;  indeed,  I  hope  so.  But  you  may  go  now, 
it  is  getting  late.  Call  me  if  Charles  needs  me  during  the 
night." 

"  Well,  good  night,  Mars  Dabney." 

*  Good  night,  Ben." 

General  Reed  sat  for  some  time  when  the  old  negro  was 
gone,  in  deep  and  profound  meditation.  His  head  was 
resting  on  his  left  hand,  while,  with  his  right,  he  hand- 
led a  paper-knife  which  he  had  picked  up  from  the  table. 
Just  what  his  thoughts  were  would  be  hard  to  tell,  but 
the  troubled  expression  of  his  face  showed  that  his  mind 
was  deeply  perplexed.     He  had  never  entertained  the 


420  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

slightest  faith  in  prophetic  dreams,  and  j-et  he  now  found 
that  this  dream  of  Helen's  had  suggested  thoughts  that 
never  would  have  come  to  his  mind  through  any  other 
channel,  and  had  pointed  his  attention  to  circumstances 
and  facts  that  in  all  probability  would  have  passed  unno- 
ticed.. 

"  It  is  a  mystery — it  is  a  deep  mystery,''  he  said  ;  "  I 
do  not  understand  it ;  indeed  I  do  not  underbtand  it,  but 
I  will  send  a  fathoming  bar  to  the  bottom  if  it  can  be 
done."  Thus  saying,  he  took  up  a  pen  and  hastily  wrote 
a  dispatch  to  the  chief  of  the  Richmond  police  request- 
ing him  to  send  Detective  Prosser  to  Manassas  as  quickly 
as  possible.  He  then  walked  to  the  door,  called  a  courier, 
and  sent  the  message  to  the  telegraph  station. 

About  noon  the  next  day  Detective  Prosser  reached  Ma- 
nassas. He  went  at  once  to  General  Reed,  whom  he 
found  at  lieadquarters  patiently  awaiting  his  coming. 
The  general  received  him  kindly  and  courteously;  thanked 
him  for  his  promptness  in  responding  to  the  message  of 
summons,  and  then  proceeded  without  circumlocution  to 
explain  the  matter  under  consideration.  He  related  every 
circumstance  concisely -and  presented  every  incident  with 
full  particulars  and  detailed  minutse,  not  omitting  the 
strange  and  most  remarkable  dream  wlrlch  Helen  had 
related  and  the  fact  that  this  dream  was  the  starting  point 
of  the  enquiry.  He  told  the  detective  plainly  that  he 
was  no  proselyte  to  the  dogmas  of  spiritualism,  mesmer- 
ism, or  to  any  other  "ism  "  that  taught  mediumistic 
agency  or  jnelded  up  either  positive  or  negative  faith  in 
the  so-called  prophetic  dreams ;  that  such  jargon  to  him, 
for  the  most  part,  was  the  very  abomination  of  ignorant 
superstition  and  in  direct  conflict  with  every  principle  and 
attribute  of  intellectual  philosophy:  but  that  dreams,  like 
wakeful  tlioughts,  are  subject  to  the  rules  of  suggestion 
and  that  it  might  be  possible  that  in  dreams  when  some 
of  the  senses  and  faculties  are  dormant,  others  may  be 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE,  421 

susceptible  of  more  accurate  or  more  perfect  exercise, and 
that  the  imagination  is  then,  as  we  all  know,  capable  of 
a  wider  sweep  and  a  bolder  flight,  for,  said  the  general, 
"to  claim  for  any  dream  that  it  is  prophetic  is  to  claim 
that  which  the  very  dream  itself  contradicts,  for  to  say 
that  a  dream  is  prophetic  is  to  say  that  it  unfolds  or  fore- 
tells future  events  ;  if  this  be  true  and  is  to  be  considered 
reliable,  then  it  must  be  subject  to  some  law  either  human 
or  divine.  It  cannot  be  human  law,  for  the  prophetic 
nature  claimed  for  the  dream  pre-supposes  some  super- 
natural power.  It  cannot  be  divine  law,  for  that  would 
debase  divinity  below  the  level  of  imperfection,  when  the 
very  essence  of  divinity  is  perfection  itself.  Therefore,  if 
fhe  so-called  prophetic  nature  of  the  dream  is  subject  to 
no  law,  it  follows  logically  that  it  is  but  a  thing  of  change 
— a  mere  incident,  and  if  a  mere  incident,  the  most  that 
can  be  said  of  it  as  relating  to  something  else  which  it 
may  seem  to  resemble,  is  that  it  is  a  coincident.  Never- 
theless, this  strange  dream  of  Helen's  has  started  a  train 
of  thought  which  has  served  to  fix  my  attention  upon  cir- 
cumstances and  facts  which  do  seem  to  reflect  upon  Wil- 
liam Dodge  and  subject  him  to  suspicion,  and  as  I  have 
said  before,  I  will  say  again  to  you,  that  it  is  a  duty  in- 
cumbent upon  us  to  follow  up  the  trail  and  to  acquit  Mr. 
Dodge  if  he  be  innocent,  or  to  convict  him  if  he  be  guilty. 
Therefore,  it  is  my  wish  that  you  go  North,  accompanied 
by  Uncle  Ben,  whom  you  may  remember  ;  that  you  will 
shadow  Mr.  Dodge  in  all  of  his  movements  and  learn  all 
that  you  can  touching  his  real  character." 

Mr.  Prosser  bowed  his  assent  and  expressed  himself 
both  ready  and  willing  to  undertake  the  service,  and 
pledged  himself  to  do  all  that  could  be  done  to  sound 
the  mystery  to  the  bottom  and  place  the  whole  truth  in 
its  proper  light.  He  also  expressed  himself  as  very 
much  pleased  at  the  idea  of  having  Uncle  Ben  to  assist 
him  in  his  efforts.     He  said  he  remembered  Ben  quite 


422  "tAUKEE  HQOQLB  DIXIE." 

] 

well.  He  was  shrewd  and  intelligent,  and  his  heart  was 
in  the  effort  to  fix  the  guilt  where  it  belonged.  His  only 
fear  was  that  Ben  would  not  be  able  to  get  up  much  of  a 
disguise.  He  was  a  large  fine  looking,  rather  venerable 
old  negro,  with  a  full  head  of  bushy  gray  hair,  and  heavy 
gray  moustache. 

Just  at  this  moment  a  knock  was  sounded  on  the  door, 
and  General  Reed  said,  "  Come  in."  The  door  was  thrown 
open  and  a  big  buck  negro  walked  into  the  room,  hat  in 
hand. 

"Sarvent,Boss,"  said  the  negro,  bowing  low  and  looking 
first  at  one  and  then  at  the  other  of  the  gentlemen,  as 
though  he  was  uncertain  which  one  to  address. 

"Well,  my  man,"  said  General  Reed,  "what  is  it  you 
would  have  ?  " 

"  I  is  lookin'  for  a  situation,  boss.  I  heard  last  night 
dat  you  was  gwine  to  send  your  man  Ben  up  North,  on 
business,  and  I  thought  you  might  want  for  to  hire  some 
one  to  nurse  your  son." 

"Who  told  you  that  I  was  going  to  send  Ben  up  North?" 
asked  General  Reed,  evidently  displeased  at  the  idea  that 
the  matter  had  been  mentioned.    "  Did  Ben  tell  you?" 

"  No,  Boss,  Ben  he  never  told  me  nothin';  'twouldn't  be 
like  Ben  to  tell  a  thing  what  he  was  told  not  for  to  tell." 

"  Then  who  did  tell  you  ?  Come,  I  want  to  know."  The 
general  was  nettled  and  showed  it  in  his  voice  and  man- 
ner.    "  Come,  I  say ;  I  wish  to  know." 

"  Well,  now  really,  Boss,  I  would  not  like  to  say  gis 
now,  as  it  seems  to  displease  you." 

"  But  I  must  know,  and  will  know ;  who  was  it  ?  " 

A  mischievous  smile  played  around  the  corners  of  the 
mouth  of  the  negro,  who  seemed  to  be  more  amused  than 
discomfitel  by  the  manifest  displeasure  of  the  general. 
He  looked  down  at  the  floor  for  one  moment,  twirled  his 
hat  around  on  his  hands,  then  looked  up  and  said,  "  I 
hates  to  tell  on  a  friend  and  give  him  away,  but  as  you 
make  me  do  it  I  am  not  to  fault." 


YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE.  423 

"  Then,  who  was  it  ?  " 

"  Why,  Boss,  'twas  General  Reed,  heself,  what  told  me." 

"I  did  nothing  of  the  kind,  sir;  I  am  General  Reed. 
I  told  you  nothing  of  the  kind." 

"  Yes  you  did.  Mars  Dabney,"  and  the  buck  nego  burst 
into  a  good  merry  laugh,  in  which  General  Reed  joined 
him  most  heartily,  in  the  midst  of  which  he  cried  out, 
"  Bravo,  Ben,  that  disguise  will  do ;  I  would  never  have 
known  you  in  the  world." 

Ben  had  shaved  his  head  and  his  moustache  clean, 
had  twisted  his  mouth  as  he  talked  to  change  his 
voice,  put  on  some  tight-fitting  clothes,  and  looked  as 
little  like  the  venerable  Uncle  Ben  of  the  night  before  as 
the  day  did  the  darkness. 

That  night  Mr.  Prosser  and  Uncle  Ben  were  passed 
through  the  Confederate  lines  and  started  on  their  secret 
mission,  with  instructions  to  spare  no  cost,  nor  to  remit 
any  labor  that  could  possibly  aid  in  revealing  the  true 
status  of  the  matter  in  hand. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

SOME  three  months  or  more  have  passed  away  since 
the  occurrence  of  the  events  related  in  the  preceding 
chapter.  The  South  was  greatly  elated  over  the  brilliant 
victory  gained  at  Manassas,  and  the  valor  of  the  South- 
ern troops  was  lauded  to  the  skies.  In  the  glory  of  that 
battle;  in  the  splendid  achievement  of  that  trial  of 
strength,  and  the  heroic  courage  of  the  citizen-soldiers  of 
the  land  of  sunshine,  the  people  of  the  South  thought 
they  saw  the  certain  and  speedy  triumph  of  the  cause  of 
the  Confederacy.  The  slain  were  martyrs  to  live  in  song, 
and  to  be  commemorated  in  glowing  marble,  while  the 
complete  rout  of  the  Federals,  and  their  inglorious  flight 
from  the  field,  only  served  to  make  them  insignificant 
enemies  in  the  eyes  of  the  elated  victors.  Success  some- 
times has  its  disadvantages  as  well  as  its  rewards,  and  so 
the  South,  when  it  was  too  late,  found  it.  Over  confidence 
is  a  sad  mistake ;  it  is  a  bitter  enemy  to  energy  and  to 
activity.  When  the  battle  of  Manassas  had  been  fought 
and  fairly  won ;  when  the  twenty  thousand  under  Beau- 
regard and  Johnston  had  met,  repulsed,  defeated  and  put 
to  complete  rout  the  sixty  thousand  soldiers  marshaled 
under  McDowell,  war  in  the  South  became  a  romance, 
and  valuable  time,  that  should  have  been  spent  in  energy 
and  activity,  making  ready  to  strike  a  second  and  a 
harder  blow,  was  wasted  in  sounding  jubilees  and  boast- 
ful rejoicings.  Just  the  converse  of  this  was  the  effect 
beyond  the  Potomac.  Up  there  the  people  were  goaded 
to  desperation ;  their  pride  was  stung  to  the  quick  and 
their  energy  aroused  to  the  last  heat  of  a  manly  pulsa- 
tion.   General  McClellan  defeated  General  Garnett  in  the 

(424) 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  425 

northwest,  and  as  a  just  reward  and  befitting  tribute  to 
his  skill  and  valor,  he  was  called  to  the  command  of  that 
mighty  host  that  was  organized  by  General  Scott,  and 
now  again  stood  facing  General  Johnston  on  the  plains 
around  Centreville  and  at  Manassas„ 

General  Jackson,  the  "  stone  wall  "  against  which  the 
rushing  tide  of  Federal  infantry  had  dashed  and  broken  on 
the  bloody  field  of  Manassas,  had  been  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  major-general,  and  sent  back  to  Winchester  to 
assume  command  of  all  the  forces  operating  in  Western 
Virginia,  and  very  soon  at  his  special  request  the  old 
Stonewall  brigade,  and  the  troops  under  General  Reed, 
were  added  to  his  command. 

It  is  no  part  of  the  purpose  of  this  narrator  to  write  a 
history  of  the  war,  but  in  passing  I  pause  and  invite  the 
world  to  stay  a  moment  and  pay  its  tribute  to  the  genius 
of  Jackson.  To  the  matchless  splendors  of  his  Valley  cam- 
paign. For  boldness  of  conception ;  daring  in  execution ; 
rapidity  of  movement,  and  contempt  of  obstacles  and 
opposition,  Jackson's  Valley  campaign  has  never  been 
surpassed.  His  blazing  genius  dazzled  the  eyes  of  his 
enemies,  while  his  flashing  sword  struck  terror  to  their 
hearts.  His  plans  were  formed  and  his  purposes  exe- 
cuted with  a  rapidity  that  borrowed  the  strength  of  the 
whirlwind.  He  swept  like  a  falcon  from  the  sky,  and 
crushed  his  foes  while  they  cowered  in  fright.  He  blazed 
like  a  meteor  before  their  bewildered  gaze,  and  broke 
their  power  before  their  purpose  was  formed.  He  de- 
feated Shields  at  Kernstown ;  Milroy  at  McDowell: 
routed  Banks  at  Winchester;  thrashed  Fremont  at 
Cross  Keys,  and  again  punished  Shields  at  Port  Republic. 
With  his  little  army  of  less  than  15,000  men,  in  forty 
days'  time  he  marched  400  miles,  defeated  four  armies, 
aggregating  at  least  50,000  soldiers,  captured  4,000  pris- 
oners, and  killed  and  disabled  twice  as  many  more  of  the 
enemy  ;  and  then  at  the  very  moment,  when  the  Federal 


426  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

Government  was  hurrying  troops  forward  to  reinforce  its 
defeated  generals,  and  protect  its  capital  city,  swept  down 
from  the  heights  of  the  Blue  Ridge  to  the  swamps  of  the 
Chickahominy,  to  the  right  flank  of  McClellan's  grand 
army  of  the  Potomac,  and  struck  the  first  blow  in  that 
series  of  brilliant  Confederate  victories,  known  as  the 
Seven  Days'  Battle  around  Richmond.  Well  might  the 
world  stand  aghast  and  gaze  with  wonder  and  astonish- 
ment. 

But,  stay,  I  must  not  anticipate.  'Tis  meet  now  that 
we  return  and  trace  the  circumstances  and  surroundings 
of  Charles  and  Helen.  The  summer  had  passed  away 
and  autumn  had  come  again  ;  the  beautiful  flowers  had 
dropped  their  leaves  and  faded ;  they  had  been  wooed  by 
the  north  winds,  and  the  west  wind  had  kissed  their 
blushing  beauty  and  left  the  chill  of  its  breath  to  wither 
the  tender  life  of  the  emblems  of  modesty.  The  birds, 
too,  had  ceased  their  songs  of  glad  rejoicing,  and  only 
chirped  some  melancholy  note  in  sad  refrain  over  the 
graves  of  departing  loneliness,  while  the  gay-winged  but- 
terfly that  loves  to  flit  from  bud  to  flower  in  the  bright 
sunlight  of  congenial  warmth  now  drooped  on  tired  wing 
or  clung  to  some  falling  leaf,  and  settled  itself  down  to 
die.  There  is  something  mournfully  melancholy  in  the 
falling  of  the  leaves,  the  withering  of  the  flowers,  the 
fading  of  the  sunlight  and  the  turning  to  sombre  gray  the 
bright  green  of  the  waving  grass.  These  things  suggest  to 
the  mind  change — decay — death  ;  and  death  suggests  the 
vanities  of  life,  the  frailties  of  man  and  the  immortality  of 
the  soul,  while  the  immortality  of  the  soul  suggests  the 
accountability  of  the  spirit  and  the  judgment  bar  of 
justice. 

Charles  had  passed  through  trying  ordeals  during  this 
last  year  of  his  life.  Four  times  within  that  brief  space 
he  had  traveled  close  up  to  the  brink  of  the  grave.  He 
had  felt  the  shock  of  battle ;  the  stinging  wound  of  the 


TAJNKEE  DOODLE   DIXIE.  427 

murderous  bullet ;  the  sharp  edge  of  the  assassin's  blade; 
the  convulsive  sufifocation  of  drowning  agony  and  the 
paralytic  torpor  of  brain  concussion,  and  he  would  have  been 
more  than  human  had  these  severe  experiences  not  left 
some  impressions  upon  his  mind.  Naturally  he  was  of  a 
pious  turn  of  thought.  From  his  very  childhood  he  had 
been  taught  to  reverence  the  Deity  and  love  religion ; 
and  as  his  intellectual  faculties  were  educated  and  devel- 
oped, he  experienced  that  firm  and  abiding  faith  in  the 
gospel  of  Christ  which  gives  comfort  to  the  heart  and  brings 
light  to  the  souh  As  soon  as  his  wounds  would  admit 
his  removal  after  the  battle  of  Manassas,  his  father  ob- 
tained for  him  an  unlimited  leave  of  absence,  and  he  was 
taken  home  to  recruit  his  health.  Here  for  sometime  he 
was  confined  to  his  bed.  The  wound  which  at  first  was 
considered  mortal,  was  a  few  days  later  considered  but  a 
trivial  affair ;  but  still  a  few  days  more  some  unfavorable 
symptoms  were  developed  and  now  blood  poisoning  was 
greatly  feared.  The  wound  at  first  seemed  to  heal  very 
quickly, in  fact  almost  too  quickly, but  after  a  short  time  it 
became  manifest  that  the  healing  was  confined  to  the  points 
where  the  ball  had  entered  and  came  out  and  the  passage 
along  which  it  had  passed  was  still  inflamed  and  suppu- 
rating freely.  Charles  bore  the  long  confinement  with 
great  patience. 

There  was  a  lull  in  military  matters.  No  stirring 
events  were  being  enacted  during  the  remainder  of  the 
summer  and  the  early  fall.  No  special  glory  was  being 
won  by  his  comrades  in  the  field,  so  it  was  easy  for  him 
to  be  reconciled  in  the  matter  of  his  absence  from  the 
army.  Then,  besides,  he  had  Helen  for  a  nurse.  She 
was  ever  near  to  beguile  the  tedium  of  the  sick  bed,  and 
to  soothe  with  her  tender  touch  and  loving  care  the  pain 
of  throbbing  wounds. 

Sometimes  she  would  read  to  him  for  hours,  and  the 
books  which  she  selected  were  those  well  calculated  to 


428  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

interest,  amuse  and  entertain.  And  with  that  quick  per- 
ception peculiar  to  woman,  she  noted  each  passing  humor 
and  varied  the  reading  to  suit  eacli  present  fancy,  and  to 
make  these  hours  all  the  more  pleasing  she  would  often 
stop  and  indulge  in  agreeable  comments  upon  the  various 
passages  of  the  author,  pointing  out  some  beautiful  sen- 
tence, which  claimed  especial  admiration,  or  remarking 
the  grace,  rhythm  or  faultless  stjde  of  some  happy  ex- 
pression. Helen  was  a  good  reader.  She  possessed  that 
rare  gift  and  most  desirable  talent  in  an  eminent  degree. 
Her  voice  was  full,  clear  and  strong,  and  her  words  came 
forth  from  her  mouth  moulded  models  of  musical  sym- 
metry. Then,  too,  her  enunciation  was  unexceptionably- 
liappy,  and  her  pronunciation,  which  was  in  the  Old 
Virginia  style  of  broad  a's,  was  both  pleasant  and  sweet. 
There  are  few  attractions  which  add  greater  charm  to  the 
fascinations  of  an  intelligent  and  refined  3^oung  lady  than 
that  of  a  sweet  and  musical  voice.  This  will  often  touch 
the  heart  and  reach  those  deeper  seats  of  feeling  in  the 
human  breast,  when  regularity  of  features  and  delicacy 
of  complexion  are  passed  by  unnoticed;  for  the  voice 
goes  forth  an  index  of  the  character,  and  beauty  of 
character  is  a  thousand  times  more  beautiful  than  beauty 
of  person ;  and  to  hear  that  voice,  so  soft,  so  sweet,  so 
free  from  all  affectation,  you  could  but  know  and  feel 
that  Helen  ]\Ioore  was  a  pure  being  of  heart  and  soul — 
full  of  sympathetic  emotions  and  tender  sensibilities. 
She  belonged  to  that  class  of  noble  natures  that  can  rea- 
lize the  truth  of  the  expression,  "  that  the  worm,  when 
crushed,  feels  all  the  agonies  of  death  the  same  as  the 
giant."  She  could  not  wilfully  hurt  the  tiniest  thing 
that  crawls.  She  could  not  be  unkind  to  aught  that 
lives  and  breathes.  She  loved  music,  too,  and  played  well. 
The  soft  harmonies  of  rh^^thmic  numbers  found  sweet 
echoes  in  all  the  chambers  of  her  heart,  and  moved  her 
spirit  to  float  upward  nearer  to  the  realms  of  pure  delight. 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  429 

And  often  at  the  twilight  hour  she  would  slip  away  to 
her  piano  and  there  in  the  semi-darkness  pour  out  her 
heart  in  the  deep,  sweet,  touching  harmony  of  emotional 
music.  At  such  hours  no  pieces  delighted  her  so  much, 
or  appealed  so  strongly  to  her  feelings,  as  those  simple  mel- 
odies, which  breathe  the  language  of  hope,  of  heaven,  of 
home  and  earnest  love.  And  among  these  pieces,  dearer 
to  her  heart  than  all  the  rest,  was  that  sweet  air,  that  soul- 
moving  song  of  "Home,  Sweet  Home."  It  was  Charles's 
favorite  of  all  her  pieces,  and  with  it  she  had  come  to 
associate  tender,  touching  recollections  of  him  and  mem- 
ories of  her  dear  mother.  She  had  made  him  a  promise 
to  think  of  him  whenever  she  played  that  piece,  and  then 
to  remember  the  deep,  earnest  love  of  his  heart  and  his 
yearning  desire  to  make  her  happy;  and  often  in  accord 
with  this  promise,  as  the  soft,  sweet  notes  of  the  music 
floated  away  over  the  evening  air,  they  bore  upward  with 
them  a  prayer  for  his  protection,  his  guidance  and  his  eter- 
nal joy.  And  sometimes  when  he  stood  by  and  she  had 
been  playing  for  him,  and  the  hour  came  for  him  to  say 
good-night,  she  in  the  fullness  of  her  heart  would  remind 
him  of  this  promise,  so  sweet  to  her  to  keep,  by  playing 
this  sacred  air  of  "  Home,  Sweet  Home,"  and  he,  when  the 
music  would  cease,  would  lift  her  hand  and  in  silence 
press  it  to  his  lips,  while  his  heart  was  full  to  overflow- 
ing of  that  deep  devotion  which  words  can  never  ex- 
press. 

There  is  something  so  sacred  in  pure  love,  so  exalting, 
so  sweetly  hallowed,  so  like  to  that  which  heaven  must 
be,  the  souls  that  feel  it  truly  in  mutual  trust  have  ap- 
proached near  to  the  gates  of  Paradise.  And  this  love  was 
the  love  which  Helen  and  Charges  felt  for  each  other,  and 
feeling  it,  their  hearts  were  full  of  happiness  and  their 
souls  were  exalted  far  above  the  thrilling  passion  of  vo- 
luptuous sensuality.  Her  hand  could  lay  in  his  with  that 
purity  of  thought  and  confiding  trust  which  the  angels 


430  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXl.fi. 

may  scan,  while  he  could  lift  that  hand  and  press  it  to 
his  lips  in  caresses  as  hallowed  as  ever  a  mother  laid 
upon  the  brow  of  sleeping  innocence.  Blessed,  indeed,  is 
that  pure  love,  which  heaven  in  its  high  and  exalted 
mercy  has  let  down  to  ennoble  man  and  to  deify  the  no- 
ble nature  of  most  noble  woman.  But  from  these  pleas- 
ing contemplations,  which  the  love  of  Charles  and  Helen 
have  suggested,  let  us  go  back  and  pick  up  the  thread  of 
our  story.  The  summer  had  passed  as  we  have  said  and 
the  autumn  had  come.  The  flowers  had  faded  and  the 
birds  had  ceased  their  songs.  The  grass  had  withered 
and  the  leaves  were  falling.  Helen  had  nursed  Charles 
through  the  long  tedium  of  his  sickness,  and  now  he  was 
convalescent,  and  she  was  happy — happy  as  the  bright  day 
was  long ;  and  that  happiness  was  made  manifest  in  all  of 
those  bewitching  wiles  and  joyful  exhilaration  of  spirits 
which  belong  to  gentle  natures  and  innocent  hearts. 
Charles  watched  her  playful  moods  with  that  delight 
which  love  is  pleased  to  contemplate  in  the  happiness  of 
the  being  for  whom  love  is  living. 

They  spent  very  many  of  the  passing  hours  in  each 
other's  company,  sometimes  reading  the  one  to  the  other; 
sometimes  joining  in  pleasant  converse,  and  then  again 
pursuing  some  interesting  study  in  which  they  both  felt 
pleased.  Helen  was  a  dear  lover  of  flowers  and  had  de- 
voted many  of  her  leisure  moments  to  the  fascinations  of 
botanic  research.  She  knew  the  names  of  the  flowers. 
She  knew  their  language.  She  knew  their  natures,  and 
understood  much  of  that  deeper  mystery  which  belongs 
to  the  principle  of  their  lovely  life,  and  during  the  days 
of  her  lover's  convalescence  she  had  engaged  to  teach 
him  something  of  the  beauties  of  her  favorite  study. 
Many  and  happy  were  the  hours  they  spent  together  in 
this  delightful  exercise.  She  would  gather  the  rarest  and 
most  beautiful  flowers  of  the  field  or  garden,  and  bring 
them  in  her  apron  to  him  to  admire,  and  then  take  her 


YANKEE  DOODLE   DIXIE.  431 

seat  on  the  grass  at  his  side  and  explain  to  him  those 
wonderful  principles  of  law  and  order  which  deep  and 
earnest  research  had  revealed  in  regard  to  the  nature  of 
flowers.  She  taught  him  to  understand  that  flowers, 
like  the  human  heart,  seem  to  be  the  recipient  of  the 
tenderest  sentiment.  That  each  one  has  its  mate,  and  is 
wooed,  and  perhaps  won,  in  a  language  more  soft  and 
gentle  than  ever  the  evening  zephyr  breathed.  That  the 
tender,  caressing  kiss  of  some  must  be  given  and  the 
sweet  aromatic  breath  of  others  must  be  mingled,  in 
order  that  the  divinely  appointed  mission  of  procreation 
may  be  fulfilled  among  them.  From  which  fact  she 
drew  the  conclusion,  that  love  is  the  perfection  of  life ; 
the  divine  attribute  revealed  in  animal  and  vegetable 
existence,  and  more  than  any  other,  exhibits  the  impress 
of  the  Creator's  nature ;  and,  therefore,  she  thought  that 
the  more  truly,  earnestly  and  tenderly  the  human  heart 
is  filled  with  love  the  higher,  nobler  and  more  exalted 
would  be  its  nature  and  the  nearer  would  be  its  approach 
to  the  perfections  of  heaven.  And  well  did  Charles  love 
to  listen  to  her  in  such  pleasing  discourse,  for  the  play 
of  her  imagination  was  like  the  sunlight  flashing  on 
dimpled  waters,  and  the  music  of  her  voice  was  sweeter 
to  him  than  the  softest  zephyr's  sigh. 

So  the  summer  passed  and  autumn  came,  and  Charles 
grew  strong  and  well ;  and  Helen's  happiness  would  have 
been  perfect  in  his  restored  health,  but  that  with  his 
renewed  strength  new  duties  came — duties  both  pleasant 
and  painful  to  perform — pleasant,  because  it  was  his  coun- 
try he  was  called  to  serve;  painful,  because  it  bore  him 
away  from  the  presence  of  the  one  he  so  loved. 

The  second  Monday  in  November  was  fixed  upon  as  the 
day  for  his  return  to  the  army.  He  had  been  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  colonel  as  a  fit  reward  for  the  splendid 
gallantry  and  valuable  service  rendered  at  the  battle  of 
Manassas ;  and  the  regiment  to  which  he  had  been  as- 


432  YANKEE  DOODLE  DiXlEr 

signed  was  now  with  Jackson,  in  the  Valley,  near  Win- 
chester. 

It  was  Sunday  afternoon,  the  day  before  that  appointed 
for  his  departure.  He  was  at  the  Grove,  and  he  and 
Helen  had  been  left  alone  to  enjoy  the  sweets  of  uninter- 
rupted companionship.  They  were  in  the  parlor  and 
Helen  had  been  singing  to  him  some  of  those  gospel 
hymns  in  which  all  true  Christians  find  so  much  pleas- 
ure. She  played  on  for  some  time,  one  after  another,  and 
finally,  when  her  heart  seemed  full  she  touched  the  chords 
and  began  that  dear  old  song,  so  full  of  music  and  prom- 
ise and  comfort  "  In  the  Sweet  By  and  By."  Charles  was 
no  proficient  in  music,  but  he  joined  his  voice  with 
Helen's,  and  they  sang  the  dear  old  song  through  to  the 
end  with  much  feeling ;  and  at  its  close  the  tears  gathered 
in  the  eyes  of  each,  and  perchance  one  or  more  trickled 
down  their  cheeks,  Charles  noticed  the  deep  emotions 
which  it  was  manifest  were  welling  up  in  Helen's  heart, 
and  with  an  effort  he  controlled  his  feelings ;  he  laid  his 
hand  on  Helen's  shoulder,  and  said,  "  God  bless  you,  my 
dear,  sweet  noble  friend.  May  we  meet  and  greet,  never 
to  part,  *  in  the  sweet  by  and  by.' "  Helen  could  not  re- 
ply in  words ;  her  heart  was  full.  She  bent  her  head 
and  her  tears  fell  fast  for  a  moment,  and  then  her  hands 
moved  over  the  keys  of  the  piano,  and  she  played,  as  her 
response  to  his  words,  the  air  of  that  song  of  all  songs, 
which  goes  straightest  to  the  heart,  that  song  so  full  of 
feeling,  so  touchingly  tender,  so  sweetly  beautiful,  which 
breathes  through  every  note  sentiments  of  love,  and  abid- 
ing affections,  ''Home,  Sweet  Home."  Their  hearts  were 
full  before,  but  now  they  were  more  than  overflowing ; 
each  felt  that  deep  awakening  of  the  soul  which  the 
touching  appeal  and  sweet  associations  of  the  music  were 
so  well  calculated  to  inspire,  and  tears  that  trembled  in 
their  eyes  before,  fell  upon  their  burning  cheeks.  To- 
morrow they  were  to  be  parted  ;  and  oh  !  who  could  tell 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  433 

if  ever  again  these  nmiual  eyes  shall  greet.  The  thouglit 
cut  like  a  knife  to  Helen's  heart.  She  bent  her  head  to 
hide  the  deep  emotions  that  rolled  over  her  whole  soul. 
Charles  said  not  a  word,  for  there  are  moments  when  the 
human  heart  feels  more  than  the  human  tongue  can 
speak.  Then  actions  became  more  eloquent  and  more 
expressive  than  words.  He  stooped,  took  both  hor  hands 
in  his,  and  pressed  tlieni  warmly.  She  leaned  her  head 
against  his  side,  for  a  moment,  and  then  he  said,  with  a 
cheerful  voice,  "Come,  dearest;  hearts  like  ours,  full  of 
love  and  trust  and  confidence,  should  never  be  sad."  He 
led  her  back  to  the  fire,  and  there,  for  some  time,  he  ex- 
erted all  his  best  endeavors  to  chase  away  the  shadows 
that  clouded  her  brow.  He  assumed  a  cheerfulness 
which  he  did  not  feel,  and  tried  to  comfort  her  by  assur- 
ances that  all  would  go  well  with  the  cause  of  the  South, 
and  that  there  would  be  no  people  in  all  the  shining  circle 
of  the  sun  so  happy  as  those  of  the  dear  land  of  sunshine 
and  flowers,  and  then  he  said,  as  he  passed  his  arm 
around  her  and  drew  her  tenderly  towards  him,  "  I  shall 
return  to  you  and  we  shall  be  the  happiest  of  the  happ}^" 
"Do  you  know,  dearect,"  he  continued,  as  he  laid  his 
cheek  caressingly  against  her  shoulder,  "  that  if  you  will 
descend  to  the  bottom  of  a  deep  well,  and  look  up,  you 
can  see  the  bright  stars  shining  in  the  sky  even  in  the 
very  midst  of  the  glare  and  glory  of  the  noon-day's  sun  ; 
and  just  so  when  the  heart  is  full,  when  deep  shadows 
gather  around  us;  when  the  burthens  of  life  seem  the 
heaviest,  and  pain  and  sorrow  and  care  press  us  down 
with  a  weight  almost  too  great  for  us  to  bear ;  if  we  will 
only  look  up  with  the  eye  of  faith,  and  give  our  hearts  to 
feel,  and  our  souls  to  confess,  that  He,  who  made  the 
shadow,  makes  the  sunshine  also,  we  will  see  the  star 
of  hope  burning  like  a  beacon  light,  a  sure  guide  to  the 
haven  of  rest." 
28 


484  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIBo 

'Tis  sweet  to  be  persuaded  with  words  of  love ;  'tis  sweet 
to  be  comforted  with  the  voice  of  affection ;  'tis  sweet  to 
be  assured  with  emotion's  tender  endeavors,  and  so  Helen 
found  it.  Little  by  little  her  tears  were  dried ;  little  by 
little  the  shadow  of  pain  faded  from  her  brow,  and  little 
by  little  hope  crept  again  to  her  heart,  and  then  a  smile 
lighted  up  her  sweet  fair  face  as  bright  and  as  beautiful 
as  the  sunshine  dispelling  an  April  shower.  Charles  saw 
the  smile ;  he  saw  the  light  of  gladness  break  over  her 
face,  and  his  whole  heart  was  filled  with  the  rushing  tide 
of  deep  devotion.  He  almost  forgot  himself  in  the  swell- 
ing rapture  of  his  love.  He  caught  her  to  his  heart  in 
one  wild  passionate  embrace,  and  then,  as  he  released  her 
and  looked  into  her  e^^es,  and  saw  there  the  glad  response 
of  his  soul's  desire,  said,  "  Bless  you,  my  darling ;  ten 
thousand  blessings  on  your  dear  head,"  and  then,  smiling 
again,  quoted:  "A  little  shower  and  a  little  sunshine, 
and  then  beauty  is  more  beautiful  still." 

Oh !  who  can  tell  the  joy,  the  gladness,  the  peace,  the 
comfort,  the  heavenly  rapture  of  united  hearts ;  'tis  beau- 
tiful as  the  sunlight  of  glorious  day,  lovely  as  the  rain- 
bow arching  o'er  the  cloud,  peaceful  as  the  moonbeams 
sleeping  on  dimpled  waters.  Seek  it,  gentle  reader ;  find 
it  if  you  can,  and  let  your  soul  feel  what  heavenly  hap- 
piness pure  unselfish  love  can  reveal. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

THE  detective,  Mr.  Prosser,  and  Uncle  Ben  passed  the 
Federal  lines  near  Leesburg,  the  same  night  they  left 
Manassas,  and  made  their  way  the  next  day  to  Washing- 
ton. They  soon  found  that  Mr«  Dodge  was  in  the  city 
and  that  he  was  stopping  at  the  St  James  hotel.  Mr. 
Prosser  registered  there  also  and  Uncle  Ben  found  comfort- 
able quarters  close  by.  It  was  agreed  that  they  should 
not  recognize  each  other  in  public,  and  that  Uncle  Ben's 
room  should  be  the  rendezvous  for  their  secret  conferences. 
They  kept  the  closest  watch  upon  every  movement  of  Mr. 
Dodge,  whom  they  soon  saw  was  studious  in  his  efforts  to 
avoid  the  forming  even  so  much  as  a  single  acquaintance ; 
but  that  each  day  he  was  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the 
building  in  which  the  Secretary  of  War  had  his  office, 
and  after  much  trouble  they  ascertained  that  these  visits 
were  to  see  no  less  a  person  than  the  Secretary  himself, 
but  wherefore  and  for  what  purpose  they  could  not  learn. 
Mr.  Prosser  tried  several  times  to  place  himself  in  the 
way  and  speak  to  Mr.  Dodge,  but  each  time  he  was  so 
pointedly  repulsed  it  was  decided  not  to  pursue  that  course 
any  further.  Prosser  then  made  special  friendly  overtures 
towards  the  landlord,  whom  he  found  quite  ready  to  criti- 
cise the  strange  conduct  of  his  exclusive  guest,  and  finally 
in  strict  confidence,  of  course,  told  Mr.  Prosser  that  he 
recognized  Mr.  Dodge  as  the  same  person  who  had  come 
to  the  hotel  on  the  20th  of  February  last, terribly  cut  and 
torn  about  the  face  and  hands,  and  who  then  acted  rather 
after  the  manner  of  a  man  in  hiding.  This  to  Mr.  Pros- 
ser was  "  a  pointer,"  but  he  said  nothing,  and  soon  found 
that  this  was  all  the  proprietor  could  tell.  Once,  and 
(436) 


436  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIEo 

once  only,  Mr.  Dodge  visited  his  mother's  home,  but  he 
did  not  stay  there  more  tlian  an  hour,  and  that  night  he 
disappeared  and  was  not  seen  again  in  the  city.  Every 
efifort  was  made  to  trace  his  whereabouts,  but  for  some 
time  was  fruitless.  Uncle  Ben  was  left  to  watch  for  him 
in  "Washington  and  Mr.  Prosser  went  over  into  Maryland, 
and  there  he  was  satisfied  from  conferences  had  with 
Southern  sympathizers,  that  Mr.  Dodge  had  made  no 
effort  to  recruit  for  the  Confederate  army  in  that  State, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Mr.  Prosser  had  received  a 
letter  from  General  Keed  enclosing  one  from  Mr.  Dodge, 
post-marked  Baltimore,  in  which  Mr.  Dodge  assures  his 
friends  in  the  South  that  he  was  doing  good  service  in 
behalf  of  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy  in  the  way  of 
securing  recruits,  which  statement  Mr.  Prosser  was  posi- 
tive was  false ;  not  only  this,  but  Mr.  Prosser  was  also 
now  fully  satisfied  that  it  was  Mr.  Dodge  who  had  shot 
Charles  Reed  at  the  battle  of  Manassas,  and  that  it  was 
also  he  who  made  the  murderous  assault  upon  Charles 
near  his  home  some  time  previous,  and  besides  this,  that 
Mr.  Dodge  was  a  spy  in  the  emplo}^  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment. Mr.  Prosser  was  led  to  these  conclusions  be- 
cause he  had  positive  proof  that  Mr.  Dodge  came  to 
Washington  the  very  next  day  after  the  assault  was  made 
upon  Charles  and  that  the  face  and  hands  of  Mr.  Dodge 
were  cut  or  torn  as  though  he  had  been  attacked  by  a 
dog;  that  Mr.  Dodge  had,  by  having  letters  mailed  in 
New  York,  pretended  to  be  in  that  city,  at  the  very  time 
that  he  was  sick  of  the  wounds  received  and  was  housed 
in  Washington  at  the  St.  James  hotel ;  that  Mr.  Dodge 
was  a  Federal  spy  was  shown  by  the  repeated  visits  made 
to  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  the  further  fact 
that  he  invariably  used  precaution  in  passing  from  the 
hotel  to  the  Secretary's  office  to  elude  any  one  who  might 
possibly  be  watching.  But  while  this  suspicion  was  strong 
in  Mr.  Prosser's  mind  now,  as  it  had  been  in  Uncle  Ben's 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  437 

from  the  beginning,  yet  there  was  no  direct  proof,  and 
besides,  what  circumstantial  proof  they  did  have  was  in 
the  statement  of  the  hotel  proprietor,  and  he  could  not  be 
carried  through  the  lines  even  if  Mr,  Dodge  should  return 
South. 

Thus  matters  stood  until  the  end  of  November,  at 
which  time  Mr.  Prosser  decided  to  leave  Uncle  Ben  on 
the  watch  at  Washington  and  to  return  to  Virginia  and 
ascertain  if  any  developments  had  been  made  in  that 
quarter. 

When  Mr.  Prosser  reached  the  headquarters  of  General 
Reed  he  found  there  two  letters  from  Mr.  Dodge,  one  ad- 
dressed to  General  Reed,  dated  the  first  of  November, 
stating  that  he  had  secured  something  like  a  hundred 
recruits,  and  that  they  would  work  their  way  through 
the  lines  within  a  week  or  two  and  be  ready  for  actual 
service;  the  other  letter  was  addressed  to  Charles,  dated 
the  20th  of  November,  and  mailed  or  post-marked  Balti- 
more, in  which  Mr.  Dodge  stated  that  he  had  been  pre- 
vented from  coming  South  by  reason  of  a  very  severe 
spell  of  sickness,  but  that  he  hoped  to  be  able  to  get  out 
and  run  the  blockade  at  least  by  Christmas. 

Mr.  Prosser  was  confident  that  both  of  these  statements 
were  false,  and  he  was  most  anxious  to  find  positive  proof 
of  that  fact.  So  he  decided  to  return  to  Washington  and 
make  another  effort  to  ascertain  the  whereabouts  of  the 
wily  captain.  Fortune  this  time  smiled  upon  his  efforts, 
for  no  sooner  had  he  reached  Washington  and  registered 
his  name  at  the  hotel  than  Uncle  Ben  appeared  and  gave 
him  the  signal  to  follow.  They  passed  a  little  to  one 
side,  when  Ben  stopped  and  said,  "  He  is  in  there,"  and 
pointed  to  room  No.  54.  Ben  then  told  Mr.  Prosser  that 
]\Ir.  Dodge  came  to  the  hotel  a  few  days  before ;  that  he 
had  paid  two  visits  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  at  the 
last  one  that  morning  he  (Uncle  Ben)  had  followed  him 
right  up  to  the  door,  and  listened  from  the  outside  to  see 


438  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

if  he  could  hear  what  was  said.  He  told  Mr.  Pros- 
ser  that  he  could  not  understand  all  that  was  said,  but 
that  he  heard  Mr.  Dodge  say  something  about  Stonewall 
Jackson,  and  also  heard  him  call  the  name  of  General 
Banks  and  the  name  of  General  Milroy ;  and  just  as  Mr. 
Dodge  was  leaving  he  heard  the  Secretary  tell  him  to 
come  back  at  six  o'clock" that  evening,  but  to  make  ready 
to  start  for  Winchester  before  he  came  so  that  he  could 
take  the  eight  o'clock  train. 

That  night  Mr.  Dodge  took  the  eight  o'clock  train  for 
"Winchester,  and  Mr.  Prosser  and  Uncle  Ben  followed 
close  in  his  shadow.  They  noticed  that  he  carried  a 
small  satchel,  w^hich  he  watched  very  closely,  and  that 
he  was  very  particular  in  folding  his  overcoat  so  that 
none  of  the  papers  would  lose  out  of  the  pockets.  Mr. 
Prosser  concluded  that  the  proof  as  to  Mr.  Dodge  being 
in  the  employ  of  the  Federal  Government  could  be  found 
in  that  satchel,  so  he  determined  to  get  possession  of  that 
and  the  overcoat,  too,  if  it  could  be  done,  then  to  leave 
the  train  and  let  Ben  follow  Mr.  Dodge  wherever  he 
might  go.  It  was  agreed  that  in  case  they  should  be 
separated  they  would  meet  at  the  Taylor  hotel,  in  Win- 
chester. With  this  view  Mr.  Prosser  took  his  seat  imme- 
diately behind  Mr.  Dodge,  and  Uncle  Ben  just  behind 
Mr.  Prosser.  As  the  train  was  approaching  Harper's 
Ferry,  Uncle  Ben  stepped  forward  to  Mr.  Dodge  and  said, 
"  Will  you  please,  sir,  read  this  letter  for  me;  it  tells  me 
where  I  am  to  find  my  wife  when  I  gets  to  Winchester." 
Mr.  Dodge  took  the  letter  which  Uncle  Ben  held  in  his 
hand  and  moved  forward  nearer  to  the  lamp,  in  the  front 
end  of  the  car.  As  he  did  so  Uncle  Ben  placed  himself 
between  Mr.  Dodge  and  Mr.  Prosser.  Just  at  this  mo- 
ment the  train  stopped  and  Mr.  Prosser  quitted  the  cars, 
and  left  his  overcoat  and  satchel  on  Mr.  Dodge's  seat,  and 
took  Mr.  Dodge's  overcoat  and  satchel  away.  Mr.  Dodge 
read  the  note  for  Uncle  Ben,  which  Mr.  Prosser  had  pre- 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE,  439 

pared,  and  then  returned  to  his  seat;  but  he  did  not 
notice  that  his  coat  and  satchel  had  been  exchanged  until 
after  the  train  had  started.  The  moment  he  made  this 
discovery  he  turned  as  pale  as  death,  and  looked  as  though 
he  would  fall  to  the  floor.  He  then  rushed  up  to  the 
conductor  and  told  him  what  had  happened,  and  begged 
him  to  run  his  train  back  to  the  station  that  he  might 
get  his  coat  and  satchel.  He  said  they  contained  papers 
of  vital  importance  to  the  Government,  and  that  he 
would  pay  any  sum  that  might  be  demanded  for  the 
trouble ;  but  despite  his  most  earnest  entreaties  the  con- 
ductor told  him  that  it  would  be  impossible' for  his  train 
to  run  back  without  risking  a  collision,  as  there  was  a 
train  following  loaded  with  troops.  Mr.  Dodge  then 
rushed  into  the  rear  coach  and  pulled  the  bell-cord.  The 
train  checked  and  he  leaped  from  the  cars.  Uncle  Ben 
followed,  but  Mr.  Dodge  was  too  young  and  had  too  much 
to  run  for,  to  allow  the  worthy  old  darkey  to  prove  a  rival 
in  the  race,  so  when  Uncle  Ben  reached  the  depot  Mr. 
Dodge  was  no  where  to  be  found. 

The  next  morning  Uncle  Ben  took  the  first  train  for 
Winchester  where  he  arrived  about  noon,  and  spent  the 
evening  watching  at  the  hotel  for  the  coming  of  his  con- 
federate. About  ten  o'clock  Mr.  Prosser  came  into  the 
office  and  seeing  Ben,  walked  past  him,  and  said,  "  Fol- 
low." When  they  were  out  on  one  of  the  quiet  streets, 
and  seeing  that  no  one  was  watching  them,  they  stopped 
and  held  a  brief  conference.  In  a  few  words  Mr,  Prosser 
told  Uncle  Ben  that  they  had  what  they  Wanted  and  that 
they  would  work  their  way  back  through  the  lines  and 
report  to  General  Reed.  As  it  was  probable  that  Uncle 
Ben  would  be  subjected  to  less  scrutiny  by  the  Federals 
in  case  they  should  fall  into  their  hands,  the  papers  were 
all  taken  from  the  satchel  and  secreted  on  the  person  of 
the  trusty  old  negro.  They  then  took  the  main  road, 
known  as  the  Valley  turnpike,  which  leads  from  Winches- 


440  YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE. 

ter  to  Staunton,  and  walked  boldly  forward  for  some  time, 
passing  right  along  through  the  midst  of  the  Federal 
army,  which  was  encamped  on  both  sides  of  the  road. 
When  the}^  had  reached  a  point  about  three  miles  from 
Winchester,  they  suddenly  came  upon  a  squad  of  cavalry 
standing  mounted  in  the  road.  The  moon  was  not  yet 
risen,  but  by  the  starlight  they  could  see  that  the  squad 
consisted  of  some  six  or  eight  men,  and  our  friends  rightly 
conjectured  that  it  was  the  mounting  of  the  midnight  re- 
lief for  picket  duty.  Mr.  Prosser  drew  Uncle  Ben  to  one 
side  under  the  shade  of  some  trees  and  whispered,  "  We 
will  follow  them  to  the  outpost ;  we  can  then  avoid  com- 
ing in  contact  with  the  picket  on  duty." 

The  squad  started  at  once  up  the  road  toward  Staun- 
ton, and  Mr.  Prosser  and  Uncle  Ben  moved  on  after  them, 
keeping  at  a  safe  distance  in  the  rear.  When  they  had 
gone  some  half  mile,  some  one  cried  out,  "  Halt !  who 
comes  there?"  To  which  a  voice  from  the  squad  replied, 
"Third  relief."  "Advance,  commandant  of  the  third  re- 
lief, and  give  the  countersign." 

"  Now  is  our  time,"  whispered  Mr.  Prosser,  "  for  us  to 
leave  the  road.  We  must  pass  around  that  picket  and 
come  into  the  road  again  farther  on,  but  we  must  lie  here 
in  the  brush  until  all  the  pickets  have  been  relieved." 

They  then  crept  under  some  small  trees  and  kept  per- 
fectly quiet  until  after  the  relieved  pickets  had  passed  back. 
Then  they  made  a  circuit  to  tlie  right  andhad  passed  nearly 
around  the  sentry,when  Mr.  Prosser  trod  on  a  stick,  which 
broke  under  his  foot,  making  quite  a  loud  noise. 

"  Who  goes  there  ?  "  cried  the  sentry. 

"Don't  answer,"  whispered  Uncle  Ben.  "Move  cau- 
tiously." 

"  Halt!"  cried  the  sentinel;  "halt !  " 

"Run,"  whispered  Mr.  Prosser,  and  off  they  started. 

"Halt!  halt!"  Bang — bang — and  the  balls  whistled 
close  to  the  heads  of  the  fufritives. 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  441 

"  Run,"  said  Ben,  "  ran  for  dear  life,"  and  again  the 
balls  came  whistling  close  to  their  heads.  They  ran  for  a 
short  distance  along  through  the  brush  parallel  with  the 
main  road,  and  then  came  into  another,  which  seemed  to 
run  obliquely  to  the  turnpike.  They  turned  into  this 
and  ran  with  all  their  might,  but  they  had  only  gone  a 
short  distance  when  some  one  cried,  "  Halt !"  and  they 
found  themselves  right  in  the  midst  of  a  squadron  of 
cavalry. 

"  Who  are  vou  ?  "  asked  the  ofi&cer  in  command  of  the 
squad. 

"  We  are  private  citizens,"  replied  Mr.  Prosser.  "  My 
home  is  in  Richmond.  This  colored  man  says  his  homo 
is  near  Charlottesville.  We  were  shot  at  just  now,  but 
we  don't  know  whether  those  who  shot  at  us  were  Con- 
federate or  Federal  soldiers." 

"  That  will  do,  sir,"  said  the  officer,  sharply. 

The  officer  then  called  two  men  forward  and  said  to 
them,  "  Take  these  people  to  headquarters  and  tell  the 
general  the  circumstances  of  their  arrest." 

The  two  soldiers  ordered  Mr.  Prosser  and  Uncle  Ben 
to  go  forward,  and  much  to  their  gratification  they  took 
the  road  which  leads  toward  Staunton. 

"  We  are  all  right,"  whispered  Mr.  Prosser ;  "  these  are 
Confederate  soldiers." 

The  prisoners  were  conducted  on  up  the  road  some  two 
miles  and  then  halted  in  front  of  a  large  house  to  the 
right  of  the  road.  One  of  the  soldiers  said  something  to 
the  sentry  on  guard  at  the  door,  and  then  the  prisoners 
were  conducted  into  the  house.  By  this  time  it  was  evi- 
dent that  Mr,  Prosser  and  Uncle  Ben  were  among  friends, 
but  just  who  these  friends  were  they  did  not  know.  The 
prisoners  were  led  into  a  large  room  to  the  left  of  the 
hall,  where  a  bright  fire  burned  on  the  hearth  and  gath- 
ered around  it  sat  some  three  or  four  men  in  Confederate 
uniforms.     The  moment  Mr.  Prosser  and  Uncle  Ben  en- 


442  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

tered  the  door,  before  they  could  see  who  were  present, 
one  of  the  officers  in  the  room  sprang  to  his  feet  and 
exclaimed,  "Why,  hello,  Prosser!  where  did  you  come 
from?  Hello,  Ben!  my  dear  old  friend;  I  am  glad  to 
see  you." 

"  'Fore  God,"  exclaimed  Uncle  Ben,"  "  'Tis  Mars  Dab- 
ney,  and  here  is  Mars  Charles,  too,"  and  the  devoted  old 
negro  seized  Colonel  Reed  by  the  hand  and  shook  it  in 
unfeigned  delight,  to  which  the  young  ofhcer  submitted 
with  equally  as  unfeigned  astonishment,  which  was 
broken  in  upon  by  a  burst  of  laughter  from  General 
Reed,  who  saw,  from  the  expression  of  Charles's  face, that 
he  did  not  recognize  Uncle  Ben/ 

"  Don't  know  me,  Mars  Charles,  don't  know  old  Ben  ?  " 
and  the  good  old  negro,  in  a  real  burst  of  ecstatic  joy, 
forgot  all  the  military  dignity  he  had  been  learning  for 
the  last  four  months,  and  caught  Charles  in  his  arms  and 
gave  him  a  regular  hug.  But  Charles  was  still  bewil- 
dered. He  did  not  understand,  which  was  simply  be- 
cause he  had  not  been  told  of  the  suspicion,  that  rested 
upon  William  Dodge,  nor,  of  course,  of  the  secret  mission 
on  which  Uncle  Ben  had  been  sent.  But  now  it  was  nec- 
essary that  an  explanation  should  be  made,  and,  as  the 
matter  was,  to  some  extent,  a  personal  affair.  General 
Reed  requested  all  the  members  of  his  staff,  who  were 
present,  to  retire. 

When  the  staff  officers  had  left  the  room.  General  Reed 
stated  for  Charles'  benefit,  in  as  few  words  as  possible,  the 
fact  that  Mr.  Dodge  had  been  suspected  of  being  a  spy  in 
the  employ  of  the  Federal  Government ;  that  various  cir- 
cumstances indicated  that  this  was  possibly  true,  but  that 
there  was  no  positive  proof  of  the  charge  at  the  time  that 
it  was  made;  but  that  Mr.  Prosser  and  Uncle  Ben  had 
been  sent  North  for  the  purpose  of  watching  the  move- 
ments of  Mr.  Dodge,  and  to  acquaint  themselves  with 
such  facts  as  would  either  relieve  Mr.  Dodge  of  the  sus- 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  443 

picion,  or  convict  him  of  the  charge.  That  this  investi- 
gation had  been  prolonged  because  of  the  fact  that  the 
further  it  was  pushed  the  stronger  the  suspicion  grew. 
Then  turning  to  Mr.  Prosser,  asked,  "  Are  j^ou  now  ready, 
Mr.  Prosser,  to  make  your  final  report  ?  "  To  which  Mr. 
Prosser  replied,  turning  to  Uncle  Ben  so  as  to  include 
him  in  the  reply, 

"  We  are." 

"  Then  what  say  you ;  is  he  guilty  or  not  guilty  ?" 

"  Guilty,"  said  Mr.  Prosser,  at  which  Charles  seemed 
perfectly  dumbfounded.  He  could  not  believe  it  possible 
that  William  Dodge,  the  man  whom  he  looked  upon  as 
his  best  friend,  the  one  whom  he  loved  next  to  his  own 
people,  could  be  so  false  to  the  principles  of  honor,  could 
so  degrade  himself  as  to  become  a  spy — that  mean  thing 
of  mere  pay ;  the  vehicle  of  falsehood  ;  the  serpent  of 
deception;  the  base  personification  of  hypocricy.  He 
started  to  his  feet,  his  face  flushed,  and  asked,  almost  in 
anger,  "What  proof,  Mr. Prosser,  have  you  to  substantiate 
that  charge?" 

Mr.  Prosser  looked  at  Charles,  for  one  moment,  with 
feelings  of  real  pity,  for  he  saw  that  Charles  was  deeply 
wounded  by  the  accusation.  Then  speaking  slowly, with 
a  sad  voice,  said,  "  For  your  sake,  Colonel  Reed,  I  could 
wish  that  the  proof  was  less  conclusive,  and  that  the  evi- 
dence we  have  stopped  at  fixing  the  infamy  of  being  a 
spy  upon  the  man  you  love  and  believe  loves  you.  But 
to  be  brief,  let  me  say  that  the  suspicion  first  started  with 
this  good  old  colored  friend  of  ours  here  whose  heart  God 
made  and  the  world  cannot  corrupt.  He  first  struck  the 
trail  and  although  it  was  a  cold  track  he  followed  it  with 
unerring  ability  and  untiring  perseverance.  When  we 
left  Manassas  in  July  we  had  nothing  more  to  rely  upon 
than  Uncle  Ben's  suspicion  and  a  few  circumstances  that 
seemed  rather  strange.  They  were  so  trivial  in  themselves 
that  I  need  not  mention  them  now,  but  will  go  on  with 


444  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

the  story  and  relate  what  happened.  Mr.  Dodge  left  Vir- 
ginia for  the  ostensihle  purpose  of  recruiting  for  the  Con- 
federate army  among  his  friends  and  acquaintances  in 
Maryland.  We  tracked  him  to  Washington,  where  we 
found  him  two  days  later  closely  closeted  with  Mr.  Cam- 
eron, the  Secretary  of  War  for  the  Federal  Government. 
Five  times  within  as  many  days  we  saw  him  visit  that 
office.  Each  time  that  he  went  he  tried  to  conceal  his 
movements,  for  it  seemed  that  he  was  afraid  he  might  be 
watched.  He  then  eluded  our  vigilance  and  disappeared 
from  the  city;  where  he  went  and  for  what  purj)ose  we  do 
not  know,  but  we  soon  ascertained  that  it  was  not  over 
into  Maryland  to  beat  up  recruits  for  the  Confederate^ 
army,  although  he  wrote  your  father  and  to  you  also  that 
he  had  been  recruiting  for  the  Confederate  cause  in  that 
State,  and  that  his  efforts  had  been  successful.  He  sub- 
sequently explains  his  delay  in  the  matter  of  bringing 
over  the  recruits  by  an  alleged  illness.  His  letter  to  you 
declaring  that  he  was  very  sick  is  dated  the  20th  of  No- 
vember, yet  on  the  25th  Uncle  Ben  finds  him  strong  and 
well  in  Washington,  dancing  attendance  on  the  Secretary 
of  War.  On  the  29th  our  faithful  old  ally  here  finds 
him  again  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  War  and  this 
time  a  part  of  the  conversation  carried  on  in  there  was 
overheard.  The  names  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  General 
Banks,  and  General  Milroy  are  mentioned  in  that  conver- 
sation, and  finally  just  as  Mr.  Dodge  was  leaving  the 
office.  Uncle  Ben  hears  the  Secretary  tell  Mr.  Dodge  to  be 
ready  to  start  to  Winchester  on  the  eight  o'clock  train. 
There  were  three  of  us  who  started  for  Winchester  on  that 
eight  o'clock  traiuo  My  seat  was  just  behind  Mr.  Dodge, 
Uncle  Ben  just  behind  me.  Mr.  Dodge  carried  an  over- 
coat as  also  a  small  red  satchel,  both  of  which  he  seemed 
to  value  very  highl}^  if  one  may  judge  of  the  way  he 
watched  them,  and  what  he  said  and  did  when  a  fellow 
passenger  got  them  mixed  uj)  with  his  own  efiects.     Just 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  445 

as  the  train  was  approaching  Harper's  Ferry,  Uncle  Ben 
asked  Mr.  Dodge  to  read  a  letter  for  him,  which  I  had 
prepared.  Mr.  Dodge  fell  into  the  trap,  and  consented  to 
read,  which,  in  order  to  do,  he  had  to  go  forward  a  little 
so  as  to  be  nearer  the  light.  While  Mr.  Dodge  was  reading 
the  letter  Uncle  Ben  placed  himself  between  the  accom- 
modating captain  and  myself,  and  I  seized  the  opportu- 
nity and  availed  myself  of  the  traveler's  privilege  to  ex- 
change baggage.  Here  is  the  overcoat  and  the  satchel ; 
perhaps,  you  will  recognize  both.  Uncle  Ben  there  has 
the  papers ;  they  will  speak  for  themselves." 

All  eyes  were  turned  to  Uncle  Ben,  who  without  a  word 
unbuttoned  his  vest  and  from  an  inner  pocket  drew  forth 
several  letters,  and  handed  them  to  Charles.  As  he  did 
so  their  eyes  met,  and  tiie  painful  expression  of  the  old 
man's  face  showed  the  deep  sympathy  which  he  felt  for 
his  young  master  and  that  there  was  much  more  regret 
than  gratification  in  revealing  the  circumstances  which 
were  about  to  expose  the  perfidy  of  Mr.  Dodge. 

Charles  read  aloud  but  with  rather  a  suppressed  voice 
the  several  letters  handed  him  by  Uncle  Ben,  which 
proved  to  be  instructions  from  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
General  Banks  and  General  Milroy.  The  instructions 
informed  the  officers  named  that  the  bearer,  Mr.  William 
Dodge,  was  employed  in  the  secret  service  of  the  Govern- 
ment; that  he  had  proven  himself  reliable  and  efficient  and 
was  worthy  of  trust  and  confidence ;  that  Mr.  Dodge  had  sug- 
gested a  raid,  to  start  from  the  command  of  General  ISIil- 
roy  then  operating  near  Staunton,  to  pass  over  the  Blue 
Ridge  mountains  by  the  most  direct  route  leading  from 
Lexington  to  Hardwicksville  on  the  James  river,  destroy 
the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Canal  at  that  point,  and 
to  burn  the  military  stores  accumulated  at  the  residence 
of  the  rebel,  Dabney  Reed,  and  to  capture  as  many  horses 
as  possible  for  the  use  of  the  artillery  and  cavalry  ser- 
vice; that  three  hundred  picked  men,  well  mounted,  be 


446  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

furnished  Mr.  Dodge,  and  during  the  continuance  of  the 
raid  they  would  be  under  the  command  of  some  officer 
selected  by  Mr.  Dodge. 

When  Charles  concluded  the  reading  of  the  letters  of 
instruction  there  was  for  a  moment  a  perfect  silence.  The 
expression  of  his  face  showed  the  pain  and  mortification 
which  he  felt,  but  with  almost  superhuman  power  lie  con- 
trolled himself  sufficient  to  appear  calm.  He  then  looked 
at  Mr.  Prosserand  said. 

"This  is  conclusive  as  to  his  guilt  so  far  as  he  is  ac- 
cused of  being  a  spy;  bub  to  what  other  charge  did  you 
allude  when  you  said  for  my  sake  you  could  wish  that  the 
evidence  stopped  at  fixing  the  infamy  of  being  a  spy  upon 
William  Dodge?" 

Mr.  Prosser  looked  hard  at  Charles  for  one  moment 
and  then  replied  slowly,  but  with  a  calm  and  subdued 
voice: 

"  I  believe  that  William  Dodge  was  the  would-be  assas- 
sin who  attempted  to  take  your  life  last  February  and  that 
it  was  he  also  who  shot  you  at  the  battle  of  Manassas." 

This  astounding  statement  almost  deprived  Charles  of 
his  breath,  but  still  struggling  to  appear  composed  he 
asked  ; 

"  Why  do  you  think  that  ?  " 

"  The  evidence  as  to  that,"  replied  Mr.  Prosser,  "  is  not 
so  conclusive,  but  still  strong  enough  now  since  we  know 
the  manner  of  the  man  to  convince  me  that  he  has  twice 
tried  to  take  your  life." 

Mr.  Prosser  then  at  some  length  related  to  Charles  all 
of  those  circumstances  connected  with  the  matter  which 
have  been  made  known  to  the  reader,  only  omitting,  as  he 
had  been  instructed  to  do  by  General  Reed,  so  much  of 
the  story  as  Helen  was  connected  with.  It  had  been 
agreed  from  the  first  that  her  name  should  not  be  men- 
tioned in  the  matter.  When  Mr.  Prosser  had  finished 
relating  the  circumstances  and  Uncle  Ben  had  stated  the 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  447 

reasons  as  well  as  he  could  why  he  suspected  and  dis- 
trusted Mr.  Dodge,  Charles  heaved  a  deep  sigh  and  said, 
as  though  speaking  half  to  himself : 

"It  must  be  so — indeed  it  must  be  so  ;  but  who  would 
have  believed  it?  Who  could  have  believed  that  William 
Dodge  could  have  wilfully  played  the  role  of  a  mur- 
derer?" Then  starting  to  his  feet,  said,  with  a  changed 
voice, "  But  this  proposed  raid — it  must  be  intercepted  if 
it  is  attempted,  and  I  trust,  father,  that  I  may  be  allowed 
the  privilege  of  protecting  our  home  and  the  opportunity 
to  punish  these  raiders  if  they  dare  make  the  proposed 
invasion  through  our  county." 

"It  shall  be  just  as  you  wish,  my  son,"  said  General 
Reed,  "  bat  you  must  understand  that  it  is  my  express 
wish  that  William  Dodge  be  taken  alive,  if  possible." 

"  If  possible,  father ;  he  shall  be.  I  will  not  hurt  one 
hair  of  his  head  if  it  can  be  avoided." 

The  scene  was  too  painful  to  be  prolonged.  Comfort- 
aole  quarters  were  assigned  Mr.  Prosser  and  Uncle  Ben 
and  they  retired  to  rest.  When  they  were  gone  General 
Reed  stood  for  one  moment  in  silence,  and  then  placed 
his  hand  upon  Charles's  shoulder,  who  had  sunk  down 
into  a  seat  and  now  sat  sadly  gazing  into  the  fire,  and 
said,  "  My  poor  boy,  for  your  sake,  I  wish  that  we  had  been 
in  the  wrong  and  he  in  the  right.  Bear  the  blow  bravely ; 
to-morrow  we  will  take  counsel  as  to  what  is  to  be  done," 
then  turned  and  left  the  room. 

Long,  Charles  sat  there,  gazing  into  the  fire  ;  so  still, 
so  motionless,  so  silent  you  might  have  thought  the  cold 
fingers  of  death  had  been-  laid  upon  his  brow.  His  heart 
was  full  of  sorrow.  Fewthings  in  lifecould  have  fallen  that 
would  have  wounded  him  more  deeply.  On  and  on  and 
on,  into  the  wee-small  hours  of  the  night  he  sat,  still 
sadly  gazing  into  the  now  fading  fire,  never  heeding  the 
cold,  chilly  air  that  crept  along  the  floor  and  touched  his 
limbs ;  never  moving,  never  sighing,  scarcely  breathing, 


448  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

and  scarcely  conscious  of  the  silent  tears  that  trickled 
one  by  one  down  over  his  cold  cheeks  and  fell  upon  the 
hearth. 

Oh  I  'tis  hard,  'tis  hard ;  'tis  so  hard  to  be  deceived 
by  one  that  is  truly  and  tenderly  loved.  The  world 
knows  no  other  sorrow  like  this;  there  is  no  other 
bereavement  that  leaves  life  so  bereft.  It  falls  upon  the 
heart  and  wounds  the  soul  to  suffer  agonies  more  excru- 
ciating than  the  pangs  of  death.  Poverty  may  pinch 
you  with  its  want ;  sickness  may  wither  you  down  to 
approach  the  grave ;  death  may  come  and  claim  the 
nearest  and  dearest  of  your  earthly  idols,  still  the  soul 
can  bear  up,  and  the  heart  can  feel  comfort  and  find  con- 
solation in  the  thought  that  in  all  this  "lie  made  the  sun- 
shine who  made  the  shadow,"  and  that  it  will  all  be  well 
in  the  "  sweet  bye  and  bye ;  "  but,  oh  !  when  the  partner  of 
3^our  bosom  has  deceived  you;  when  the  idol  of  your 
heart  has  been  false ;  when  the  friend  you  have  loved 
and  cherished  has  covered  his  name  with  shame  and 
blackened  and  blasted  his  fame  forever,  then  indeed  is 
the  heart  deeply  wounded  and  the  soul  sadly  bereft. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

THE  next  morning,  bright  and  early,  General  Keed  and 
Ciiarles  betook  themselves  to  the  headquarters  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson.  They  had  agreed  that  the  whole  matter 
should  be  laid  before  the  commanding  officer,  but  further 
than  this  not  a  word  had  been  spoken  on  the  subject. 
They  understood  each  other.  They  felt  that  they  had 
been  basely  deceived  —  deeply  and  most  dreadfully 
wronged,  but  they  felt  at  the  same  time  that  the  deepest 
wrong  that  had  been  done,  William  Dodge  had  done  to 
himself.  He  had  covered  his  name  with  shame  and 
steeped  his  soul  in  crime,  and  possibly  cut  himself  off 
from  every  hope  that  is  worth  hoping,  both  in  this  life 
and  the  life  that  is  to  come.  The  thought  saddened 
Charles  Reed,  and  the  contemplation  w^ounded  him  more 
deeply  than  can  be  told.  He  was  stunned  and  over- 
whelmed, but  he  could  hardly  realize  the  truth;  it  did 
seem  but  as  a  dreadful  dream,  yet  when  he  would  arouse 
himself  and  shake  off  the  painful  depression,  he  was 
obliged  to  admit  that  the  proof  was  conclusive.  There 
was  not — there  could  not  be  any  mistake — there  was  no 
hope.  Strange,  as  it  may  seem,  he  did  not  think  of  the 
wrong  that  William  Dodge  had  done  him,  but  of  the  ter- 
rible wrong  that  Dodge  had  done  himself.  There  was  no 
revenge  in  the  heart  of  Charles  Reed;  no  desire  to  punish 
Dodge  for  what  he  had  done;  no  wish  to  capture  him 
and  bring  him  to  justice,  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  deep, 
deep  pity,  that  and  nothing  more.  He,  felt  as  he  rode 
along  with  his  father,  that  there  was  a  painful  duty  to  be 
performed,  and  if,  by  any  chance,  William  Dodge  should 
be  led  to  return,  then  the  duty  would  be  a  thousand  times 
29  (449) 


450  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

more  painful  still ;  but  duty  was  the  rule  and  guide  of 
Ciiarles  Reed's  life,  and  there  was  no  turning  aside ;  it 
mattered  not  how  rough  and  stormy  the  path  might  be. 
In  his  contemplation,  the  only  hope  that  he  could  enter- 
tain was  that  the  loss  of  the  papers  might  suggest  to 
William  Dodge  that  they  had  fallen  into  tlie  hands  of 
the  Confederates,  and  thus  warn  him  not  to  return  to  the 
Southern  army,  for  there  he  must  find  sure  and  ignomin- 
ious death ;  but  even  this  hope  was  destined  to  be  soon 
clouded. 

They  found  General  Jackson  at  his  headquarters,  stand- 
mg  in  his  tent  with  an  open  letter  in  his  hand,  his  face 
flushed  and  lit  up  with  that  pleasing  smile,  which  his 
old  soldiers  used  to  say  was  the  beauty  of  the  morning 
foretelling  a  glorious  day. 

"  There,  my  friends !  There  is  work  for  you,"  was  his 
salutation.  "  Turner  Ashby  writes  me  that  Banks  started 
at  daylight  this  morning,  with  20,000  of  his  men,  by  the 
way  of  Snicker's  Gap,  with  a  view  to  reinforce  McClellan 
and  crush  General  Johnston  at  ^Manassas ;  that  Shields  is 
left  at  Kernstown  with  only  1G,000  men.  They  have  mis- 
taken, as  I  intended  they  should,  my  falling  back  from 
Winchester  to  be  a  retreat,  my  purpose  being  to  draw 
them  farther  from  their  base  of  operations.  They  think 
they  have  gotten  rid  of  me  and  can  now  unite  the  army 
of  Banks  with  that  of  McClellan,  turn  the  left  flank  of 
Johnston,  defeat  him,  and  then  ride  on  to  Richmond.  I 
will  teach  Shields  a  lesson  while  Banks  is  away,  John- 
ston wrote  me  yesterday  to  do  what  I  could  to  entertain 
these  people,  and  keep  Banks  and  his  army  from  rein- 
forcing McClellan;  a  bay  horse  to  a  brass  button,  that 
Shields  will  send  for  Banks  before  he  reaches  the  top  of 
Snicker's  Gap.  I'll  run  Shields  into  Washington  if  Banks 
keeps  on  to  Manassas.  I  have  8,000  men, Shields  16,000; 
but  his  name,  nor  his  fome,  nor  his  men  will  protect  him 
from  my  blows.     I  must  thrash  him  before  Banks  can 


YANKEE   BOODLE   DIXIE.  451 

get  back.  The  army  will  move,  General  Reed,  at  once ; 
the  Stonewall  brigade  in  front,  yon  will  bring  up  the 
rear;  your  regiment,  Colonel  Reed,  will  keep  company 
with  the  first  brigade.  I  shall  want  you  especially  when 
the  infantry  have  broken  the  enemy's  line." 

**  Your  commands  shall  be  obeyed,  general,"  replied 
Colonel  Reed ;  "  but  if  permitted  we  desire,  before  we 
start,  one  moment  to  lay  before  you  a  matter  of  some 
importance,  which  may  need  prompt  attention," 

"  Well,  what  is  it,  my  friends  ?  If  it  is  only  a  request 
consider  it  granted ;  and  go  on,  I  am  impatient  to  be 
after  Shields." 

"It  is  not  a  request,"  replied  General  Reed,  "but  a 
matter  that  will  only  delay  us  a  moment." 

"Well,  well,  excuse  my  impatience,  but  be  brief;  you 
understand  me,  General,  you  understand  me,"  and  he 
laid  his  hand  on  General  Reed's  shoulder. 

General  Reed  then  handed  General  Jackson  the  papers, 
which  had  been  taken  from  Mr.  Dodge,  and  said,  "Read 
these,  General,  and  then  I  will  explain." 

General  Jackson  read  the  papers,  one  after  the  other, 
and  then  looked  up,  astonishment  and  displeasure  de- 
picted on  his  face. 

"What  does  this  mean?  Surely  this  is  not  Captain 
Dodge  of  your  staff?" 

"The  same.  General;,  I  am  sorry  to  say  it,  but,  indeed, 
he  and  the  Mr.  Dodge  mentioned  there  are  one  and  the 
Bame.  He  was  the  classmate  of  Charles  at  college,  and 
Charles  was  his  truest  and  most  devoted  friend;  but 
Dodge  has  shown  himself  unworthy,  nay,  more  than  that, 
he  is  a  traitor;  he  was  a  spy  in  our  army,  while  he  was 
the  recipient  of  our  kindness." 

"  But  these  papers.  General  Reed,  how  did  you  get  pos- 
session of  them  ?  " 

"Because  of  some  little  trivial  circumstance,  too  trivial 
to  mention,  Mr.  Dodge  became  an  object  of  suspicion  the 


462  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

night  after  he  left  Manassas.  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  take 
every  step  needful  either  to  relieve  him  of  that  suspicion, 
if  innocent,  or  to  establish  his  guilt,  if,  indeed,  he  were 
guilty.  With  this  view  I  sent  two  trustworthy  persons 
over  the  lines  with  instructions  to  shadow  Mr.  Dodge  and 
acquaint  themselves  with  his  true  character.  They  found 
him  holding  repeated  conferences  with  Mr.  Cameron,  the 
Federal  Secretary  of  War ;  they  learned  that  ^Ir.  Dodge 
was  to  go  to  Winchester  on  some  secret  mission  for  the 
Government ;  they  followed  him  ;  captured  his  overcoat 
and  satchel  on  the  cars,  and  left  the  train  near  Harper's 
Ferry.    In  the  satchel  they  found  these  papers." 

"  Does  Dodge  -know  who  took  these  papers  from  him  ?  " 

"He  does  not;  I  do  not  think  he  even  suspects." 

"  Does  he  know  that  they  have  fallen  into  Confederate 
hands  ?" 

"He  does  not;  I  do  not  think  he  even  supects that." 

"  When  did  this  capture  take  place  ?  " 

"  Night  before  last." 

General  Jackson  was  silent  for  a  moment.  He  was 
thinking ;  he  looked  serious  and  then  asked — 

"  Do  you  think  the  person  who  captured  them  could 
restore  them  without  running  too  much  risk?"' 

«  I  think  so,  General." 

A  smile  broke  over  the  face  of  General  Jackson,  and  he 
said,  "  It  is  a  bad  wind  that  blows  nobody  any  good.  I 
want  these  papers  returned  to  ]\Ir.  Dodge ;  I  want  him  to 
continue  to  play  the  role  of  spy;  I  want  that  little  raid 
he  planned  started.  I  will  capture  that  little  band  of  select 
soldiers,  but  the  chief  thing  that  I  want  is  for  Mr.  Dodge  to 
come  back  here  among  us  and  be  privileged  to  send  back 
to  Washington  some  secret  dispatches  which  I  will  arrange 
shall  be  made  to  work  more  for  our  advantage  than  for 
the  benefit  of  those  Mr.  Dodge  would  serve.  Nothing 
like  having  a  spy  on  your  staff.  General,  if  you  know  his 
character  and  take  the  privilege  to  suggest  what  news  he 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  463 

is  to'  send  over  the  lines  to  tne  enemy :  but  you  can't  trust 
him  to  help  you  mislead  the  enemy  but  once  or  twice. 
Then  you  will  have  to  turn  him  over  to  the  court-martial 
to  be  tried  and  shot.  Napoleon  gained  the  splendid  vic- 
tory at  Austerlitz  by  allowing  a  spy  to  send  a  dispatch 
which  caused  the  enemy  to  divide  the  Austrian  forces. 
Let  some  one  make  a  copy  of  these  papers.  Let  the  per- 
son who  captured  them  return  them  just  as  they  were, 
coat,  satchel  and  all.  Let  him  say  he  saw  that  they  were 
valuable  and  ^vould  not  entrust  their  return  to  any  other 
hands.  Let  him  deliver  a  letter  which  I  will  write  to 
Miss  Belle  Boyd,  at  Martinsburg,  then  let  him  return  to 
your  headquarters  and  await  developments.  Let  him  do 
nothing  while  in  the  enemy's  line  that  will  subject  him 
to  suspicion.  Let  him  be  ready  to  start  in  one  hour's 
time.  A  note  I  shall  write  General  Ashby  will  secure  a 
safe  passage  into  Winchester.  He  must  then  be  guided 
by  his  own  judgment  as  to  the  best  course  to  find  Mr. 
Dodge." 

Charles  listened  to  tiiese  remarks  and.  instructions  with 
a  sad  heart.  lie  could  but  see  that  they  foreshadowed 
the  complete  disgrace  and  certain  doom  of  the  man  he 
had  once  loved  even  as  a  brother,  and  although  he  knew 
and  felt  that  William  Dodge  was  more  than  unworthy; 
that  he  had  forfeited  every  right  to  the  slightest  considera- 
tion, yet  there  was  something  repulsive  in  the  idea  of 
seeing  him  put  to  death  as  a  public  malefactor.  It  w^ould 
have  been  more  in  accord  wdth  his  wishes  to  have  Dodge 
remain  away  where  he  would  never  see  him  or  hear  of 
him  again.  But  the  matter  was  not  under  his  control.  It 
had  now  passed  beyond  his  power. 

General  Jackson  rightly  conjectured  that  the  loss  of 
the  papers  would  subject  Mr.  Dodge  to  a  delay  of  several 
days  in  regard  to  the  proposed  raid,  and  that  even  after 
they  were  returned  to  liim  he  would  wait  some  time  so  as 
to  make  sure  in  his  own  mind  that  no  rebel  had  read  his 


454  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

instructions.  So  there  was  no  reason  why  Jackson  should 
hurry  troops  away  toward  Hard  wicks  ville  to  intercept  and 
capture  the  raiders.  He  promised  Charles  that  he  should 
have  the  privilege  of  defending  his  native  county  and  of 
punishing  the  raiders  if  they  dare  make  the  attempt  to 
destroy  the  canal,  but  said  that  it  would  be  ample  time  to 
start,  after  the  little  army  of  the  Valley  had  paid  its  com- 
pliments to  General  Shields. 

The  small  hamlet  of  Kernstown,  which  consists  of 
something  less  than  a  dozen  houses,  is  situated  about  four 
miles  south  of  Winchester  immediately  on  the  great  Val- 
ley turnpike.  Just  below  the  little  town  the  troops  which 
had  been  left  with  General  Shields  were  encamped.  Jack- 
son they  regarded  as  a  fugitive  whom  it  would  be  vain  to 
pursue,  so  the  Federal  soldiers  lay  scattered  around  warm- 
ing themselves  in  the  sunshine,  orroaming  about  over  the 
hills  seeking  some  pleasing  diversion  to  break  the  ennui  of 
camp  life,  thus  again  presenting  an  example  of  the  dan- 
ger of  over-confidence  and  of  the  vanity  of  undue  self- 
complacency. 

Jackson,  with  that  genius  for  war  which  will  render 
his  name  memorable  in  all  the  ages,  saw  the  mistake  of 
his  adversary,  and  determined  to  turn  it  to  his  own  ad- 
vantage. 

He  issued  an  order  requesting  his  troops  not  to  cheer 
under  any  circumstances  while  on  the  march,  but  to  step 
out  briskly  and  follow  the  lead,  and  then  promised  them 
if  they  would  be  true  to  themselves,  the  glory  of  the  set- 
ting sun  would  be  reflected  back  by  the  splendid  achieve- 
ments of  the  army  of  the  Valley. 

His  plan  was  to  take  Shields  unawares,  and  to  strike 
him  at  an  unguarded  moment  on  the  left  flank  and  rear. 
With  this  view  he  hurried  his  infantry  along  a  rough, 
unfrequented  road  some  three  miles  to  the  right  of  the 
turnpike,  leaving  his  artillery  and  cavalry,  (with  the  ex- 
ception of  Colonel  Reed's  regiment),  under  the  command 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  455 

of  General  Turner  Ashby,  to  advance  by  the  main  road 
with  instructions  to  approach  as  near  as  practicable  with- 
out revealing  their  presence  to  the  enemy,  and  to  await 
there  until  they  heard  the  rattle  of  his  musketry  and  then 
to  make  as  vigorous  an  assault  as  possible. 

The  troops  understood  General  Jackson's  plan,  and 
were  enthusiastic  in  their  efforts  to  carry  it  into  execution. 
About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  Jackson  came  upon 
the  Federal  picket ;  and  no  sooner  were  they  seen  than 
he  ordered  Colonel  Reed  with  a  picked  squadron  to 
charge  and  capture  the  vidette  if  possible.  This  order 
was  obeyed  with  such  promptness,  and  so  much  dash,  the 
Federal  picket  was  completely  surprised,  and  captured 
almost  before  they  were  aware  that  they  were  attacked. 
Jackson  then  j^ressed  his  infantry  forward  at  the  double 
quick  for  something  like  a  mile,  again  cautioning  them 
not  to  cheer  until  they  began  to  fire.  Here  he  turned 
sharp  to  the  left,  and  formed  his  men  in  line  of  battle. 
He  now  advanced  steadily  upon  the  enemy,  who  were 
soon  seen  quietly  scattered  around  indulging  the  repose 
of  camp  life.  Some  of  them  saw  the  advancing  line  ap- 
proaching their  rear,  but  mistook  it  for  some  of  the  troops 
of  General  Banks  returning,  who  had  marched  away  in 
that  direction  some  hours  before.  When  the  Confederates 
had  approached  within  five  hundred  yards  of  the  Federal 
camp  they  saw  all  at  once  a  puff  of  white  smoke  shoot 
up  from  the  crest  of  a  little  hill,  instantly  followed  by 
the  loud  roar  of  a  cannon,  and  quickly  was  heard  the 
long-roll  beating  as  though  from  a  hundred  drums,  and 
at  the  same  time  was  seen  the  Federal  troops  rushing  in 
every  direction,  while  the  excited  commands  of  their 
officers  came  wafted  over  the  hills  calling,  ''  Fail  in ! " 
"Fall  in!"  ''Fall  in,  men!" 

Jackson  was  riding  forward  in  front  of  his  line.  He 
saw  that  puff  of  white  smoke ;  he  heard  the  loud  roar  of 
the  cannon  shot,  and  the  rattle  of  the  long-roll,  and  wit- 


456  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

nessed  the  excitement  in  the  Federal  camp.  He  knew  at 
once  the  enemy  had  discovered  his  presence  and  realized 
the  advantages  of  his  position;  he  turned  in  his  saddle 
and  waved  his  sword  over  his  head, and  shouted,  "Double 
quick  !"  "Charge !"  Every  soldier  in  that  line  heard  that 
call ;  every  heart  responded ;  every  step  was  quickened 
into  a  run.  While  the  surrounding  hills  seem  to  shake 
from  the  terrible  yell  which  burst  from  that  rushing  tide 
of  impetuous  war.  On  they  rush  down  a  gentle  slope, 
and  up  a  slight  decline — cheering,  screaming,  yelling  like 
demons.  Their  guns,  at  a  trail  arms,  gleaming  in  the 
sunlight;  their  officers  running  forward  in  advance, 
shouting  to  the  men,  "  Save  your  fire ! "  "  Save  your  fire, 
until  you  get  right  upon  them." 

Just  as  the  Confederates  reached  the  crest  of  the  hill 
the  half-formed  lines  of  the  Federals  opened  upon  them 
a  volley  of  musketry,  but  their  fire  was  so  scattering  and 
irregular  it  did  but  little  damage  The  Federals  then 
broke  and  fled  in  great  confusion,  and  as  they  huddled 
together  in  the  precipitous  rout,  Jackson's  men  poured 
into  them  from  all  sides  the  most  withering  fire.  Hun- 
dreds of  them  fell  to  earth  never  to  rise  again,  while 
thousands  lay  upon  the  ground  writhing  with  ghastly 
wounds.  The  signal  gun  of  the  Federals  had  proved 
likewise  a  signal  to  Ashby,  and  he  had  brought  forward 
his  artillery  to  a  commanding  position,  and  now  sent 
round  after  round  of  shot  and  shell  and  shrapnel 
down  upon  tlie  heads  of  the  flying  foe — while  the  cav- 
alry again  and  again  charged  upon  their  exposed  flanks, 
and  sabered  down  tlie  men  in  unmerciful  numbers.  Many 
of  the  unfortunate  fugitives  were  killed,  many  more 
wounded,  and  still  very  many  more  captured — while  the 
rest  were  driven  in  a  wild  panic-stricken  rout  back 
through  the  streets  of  Winchester;  and  but  that  night 
closed  over  the  scene  and  put  a  stop  to  the  pursuit  and 
carnage,  Shields  and  his  whole  army  might  have  been 
captured. 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  457 

General  Banks,  from  the  top  of  Snicker's  Gap,  heard 
the  booming  cannon  of  that  battle,  and  as  he  stood  and 
watched,  he  saw  the  wreathes  of  smoke  circling  up  as  the 
tide  of  strife  rolled  from  Kernstown  back  towards  Win- 
chester. He  could  but  know  that  Shields  had  been 
attacked ;  that  Shields  had  been  defeated,  and  the  rapid 
retrograde  told  him  that  Shields  had  been  routed.  So 
the  troops  that  started  to  reinforce  McClellan;  the  troops 
that  were  to  sweep  over  the  blue  hills  and  help  crush 
Johnston,  must  now  fly  back  to  save  General  Shields  and 
protect  Washington. 

As  night  came  on  Jackson  called  a  halt  and  ordered 
his  men  to  bivouac  on  the  battle-ground.  He  sent  for 
General  Ashby  and  Colonel  Reed,  who  soon  came  in  to- 
gether, and  as  they  entered  his  tent  he  laid  a  hand  on 
the  shoulder  of  each,  and  smiling,  said,  "My  brave, 
gallant  friends,  it  does  my  heart  good  to  give  you  the 
praise  you  have  both  so  nobly  merited ;  you  and  all  the 
rest  of  the  troops  have  covered  yourselves  with  glory  to- 
day ;  patriotism  inspired  your  hearts,  and  manly  courage 
nerved  your  arms  to  deeds  of  dauntless  daring.  I  know 
that  you  are  both  tired,  and  so  am  T,  but  we  must  not  lose 
the  fruits  of  this  splendid  victory.  Banks  will  come 
pouring  back  down  the  western  slopes  of  the  Blue  Ridge 
before  morning,  and  the  Lincoln  Government  will  rush 
fresh  troops  to  Harper's  Ferry  to  protect  Mr.  Shields.  My 
little  army  of  8,000  can  work  wonders,  but  I  do  not  wish 
to  fight  it  against  five  to  one.  I  must  gather  up  my 
spoils  and  fall  back  and  wait  for  the  enemy  to  make 
another  mistake.  You,  General  Ashby,  will  keep  up  a  show 
in  front  of  the  enemy  and  protect  the  quartermaster  while 
he  removes  all  prisoners,  captured  stores  and  baggage 
trains  back  to  Elk  Run ;  while  you.  Colonel  Reed,  will 
ascertain  the  whereabouts  and  movements  of  General 
Banks  and  the  main  body  of  his  army." 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

MR.  PROSSER  had  started  something  like  an  hour  in  ad- 
vance of  the  army,  and  as  he  was  provided  with  a  good 
horse  and  trusty  guide,  rode  rapidly  to  the  house  of  a 
Mr.  Williams,  who  piloted  him  by  the  way  of  a  secret 
path  to  a  point  beyond  the  Federal  pickets,  from  which 
he  soon  made  his  way  into  Winchester.  Knowing  that 
Jackson  intended  to  make  an  attack  on  the  enemy  he 
decided  to  take  the  first  train  to  Harper's  Ferry,  believing 
that  he  would  be  more  likely  to  find  Mr.  Dodge  there 
than  at  Winchester,  as  that  was  the  place  Mr.  Dodge  had 
lost  his  satchel,  and  the  place  where  he  would  probably 
linger  as  long  as  there  was  any  hope  of  finding  it.  Nor 
did  Mr.  Prosser  have  long  to  wait  for  a  train.  He  left 
his  horse  at  a  livery  stable  and  took  the  noon  train,  and 
in  an  hour  or  more  was  at  Harper's  Ferry,  The  first 
thing  he  did  was  to  visit  all  the  hotels  and  examine  the 
registers,  but  he  did  not  find  the  name  of  William  Dodge 
anywhere  recorded.  He  then  went  to  see  the  agent  of 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  Company,  at  the  depot, 
but  the  agent  was  busy  and  gave  him  no  very  satisfac- 
tory answer.  He  then  walked  up  town  and  turned  into 
a  restaurant  and  ordered  dinner.  While  the  meal  was 
being  prepared  he  picked  up  the  morning  paper  and 
began  to  read.  He  had  been  thus  engaged  only  a  few 
moments  when  his  eyes  fell  upon  the  following  advertise- 
ment- 

"  Exchanged  or  Stolen — A  small  red  leather  satchel 
and  brown  overcoat,  taken  from  the  night  train  of  the  B. 
and  0.  R.  R.,  near  Harper's  Ferry,  Tuesday,  the  29th.     A 

(458) 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  459 

handsome  reward  will  be  paid  for  their  safe  return,  or  for 
any  information  which  will  lead  to  their  recovery. 

"  William  Dodge, 
"  147  Shenandoah  street,  Harper's  Ferry." 

Mr.  Prosser  read  over  the  advertisement  a  second  time, 
then  quietly  laid  down  the  paper,  pushed  up  his  sleeve 
and  wrote  upon  his  cuff,  "  147  Shenandoah  street."  By 
this  time  his  dinner  was  brought  him,  which  he  ate,  and 
as  he  paid  the  fare,  dropped  a  silver  coin  in  the  waiter's 
hand  and  said,  "  I  want  to  go  to  147  Shenandoah  street. 
Can  you  direct  me  how  I  am  to  get  there  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir.  Turn  to  the  right  at  the  next  corner  and 
follow  that  street  for  three  blocks.  No.  147  is  the  big 
brick  house  on  the  corner.  It  is  a  boarding-house,  you 
will  find  it  well  kept,  if  you  stop  there.  The  lady  will 
feed  you  nicely,  but  abuse  you  roundly  if  she  finds  you 
are  any  thing  of  a  Yankee." 

"  Then  I  will  enjoy  the  good  things  and  keep  my  poli- 
tics to  myself,"  and  Mr.  Prosser  smiled  a  non-committal 
smile  and  said,  "  Good  evening." 

A  few  moments  later  and  Mr.  Prosser  rang  the  door- 
bell at  No.  147  East  Shenandoah  street.  It  was  answered 
by  the  landlady  in  person,  who  seemed  to  possess  a  curiosity 
to  know,  "  Who  comes  there"  as  well  as  a  talent  "to  turn 
an  honest  penny." 

Mr.  Prosser  bowed  politely  in  response  to  the  lady's 
pleasing  smile,  and  said,  "  I  desire  to  see  ^Ir.  William 
Dodge.     Is  he  stopping  here?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  he  is  in  his  room,  I  think.  Walk  in,  please," 
and  she  conducted  him  into  a  comfortable  parlor,  fashion- 
ably furnished.  She  invited  Mr.  Prosser  to  take  a  seat, 
and  as  he  did  so,  she  touched  a  silver  bell  on  the  centre 
table.  In  a  moment  a  servant  appeared  and  the  land- 
lady said,  "  See  if  Mr.  Dodge  is  m  his  room.  No.  24,  and 
if  so,  tell  him  a  gentleman  wishes  to  speak  to  him."    The 


460  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE 

servant  retired  and  the  landlady  asked  in  the  politest 
manner  imaginable,  "Any  news  from  the  front  to-day?" 
To  which  Mr.  Prosser,  equally  as  polite,  replied,  "  None 
that  I  have  heard,  I  came  from  INIartinsburg  this  morning, 
everything  seemed  to  be  quiet,"  then  realizing  that  it  is 
generally  easier  to  ask  questions  than  it  is  to  answer  them 
he  took  a  bold  leap  and  asked,  "  Do  you  wear  the  gray  or 
comfort  the  blue  ?  " 

To  which  the  ladv  replied  with  considerable  empha- 
sis— 

"lam  a  Virginian,  and  that  should  be  sufficient  ans- 
wer." 

"  It  is,"  replied  Mr.  Prosser ;  "  I  admire  the  spirit  of 
the  ladies  of  the  South  as  much  as  I  do  the  patriotism  of 
her  soldiers  and  the  genius  of  her  commanders." 

This  somewhat  gallant  speech  which  indicated  that  Mr. 
Prosser  was  a  Northern  man  but  in  sympathy  with  the 
South,  seemed  to  satisfy  the  landlady  and  she  arose  as  Mr. 
Dodge  appeared  in  the  door,  and  said  : 

"  Mr.  Dodge  allow  me  to  introduce — "  then  turning  to 
Mr.  Prosser- -"excuse  me,  I  did  not  catch  your  name." 

"  Prosser,  from  Cumberland,  Maryland," — for,  indeed, 
that  was  his  native  city — at  which  the  lady  smiled,  bowed 
low  and  left  the  room  closing  the  door  behind  her. 

Mr.  Dodge  came  forward  in  all  the  courtly  elegance  of 
his  suave  manners  and  extended  his  hand,  saying : 

"  I  am  glad  to  meet  you,  Mr.  Prosser,  I  trust  I  may 
be  of  service  to  you." 

To  which  Mr.  Prosser,  with  equal  dignity  and  well- 
feigned  courtes}",  replied:  "I  too  am  glad  to  meet  you,  Mr. 
Dodge;  though  possibly,  to  speak  more  becomingly  under 
the  circumstances,  I  should  use  the  word  ashamed  instead 
of  glad." 

"  Why  so?  "  said  Mr.  Dodge,  still  holding  Mr,  Prosser's 
hand  and  looking  the  model  of  sweet  amiability — "pray, 
why  so?" 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  461 

"I  owe  you  an  explanation  and  apology,  Mr.  Dodge, 
and  I  am  back  here  in  propria  persona  to  beg  your  pardon 
for  my  carelessness,  and  to  return  to  you  in  perfect  safety 
your  property.  It  was  anything  but  commendable  in  me 
to  permit  myself  to  become  so  engrossed  in  a  newspaper 
as  to  prevent  my  noting  the  difference  between  meumsmd 
tuum.  In  my  haste  to  catch  the  Cumberland  train  I  laid 
violent  hands  on  your  overcoat  and  satchel  and  allowed 
mine  to  travel  on,  I  have  not  yet  ascertained  where,  but 
what  was  done  was  done,  and  all  that  I  can  now  do  is  to 
return  your  property  and  express  the  hope  that  you  have 
not  been  subjected  to  inconvenience." 

Mr.  Dodge  took  the  coat  and  satchel  from  Mr.  Prosser, 
who  rather  in  response  to  the  inquisitive  expression  of 
Mr.  Dodge's  face,  continuing,  said  i 

"I  was  unwilling  to  entrust  their  return  to  any  third 
party."  Then  smiling  significantly,  added :  "  If  there  is 
anything  contraband  you  will  find  it  in  statu  quo.  I  took 
the  privilege  to  examine  sufi&ciently  to  learn  the  name  of 

the   owner;  further  than    that "    and   Mr.    Prosser 

bowed. 

''  I  can  well  believe  you,  sir.  But  there  is  nothing  here 
of  consequence ;  only  a  few  private  letters  and  a  paper 
which  I  was  requested  to  deliver  to  General  Banks  when 
I  got  to  Winchester.  That  was  the  only  thing  about 
which  I  felt  the  least  concern.  I  did  not  know  but  what 
it  might  be  of  importance,  as  I  am  not  aware  of  its  con- 
tents." Then  turning  the  subject  suddenly  Mr.  Dodge 
asked:  "  Are  you  in  the  army,  Mr.  Prosser?  " 

"  No,  sir,"  replied  Mr.  Prosser,  rather  quizzically.  "  I 
am  not  sufficiently  in  sympathy  with  the  cause  of  coer- 
cion to  risk  my  life  in  the  grand  enterprise.  Nor  do  I 
find  in  my  heart  any  disposition  to  yield  to  the  pathetic 
call  of  'Maryland,  my  Maryland;'  but  I  am  detaining 
you.  My  card,  Mr.  Dodge — shall  be  glad  to  sec  you 
should  you  ever  find  yourself  in  Cumberland." 


462  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

"  My  home  is  in  Washington,  Mr.  Prosser.  I  hope  yve 
shall  meet  again." 

The  two  men  shook  hands  and  parted,  each  well  satis- 
fied with  the  interview,  and  each  feeling  that  there  was 
special  occasion  for  self-congratulation. 

"  What  a  bold-faced  hypocrite  he  is,"  thought  Mr. 
Prosser.  "  The  semblance  of  a  gentleman  with  the  hid- 
eous heart  of  a  gorilla." 

"  How  lucky  this  is,"  thought  Dodge.  "  Had  but  a 
rebel's  finger  touched  that  satchel  I  should  have  been 
disgraced,  defeated,  despoiled  of  two  thousand  'green 
fivers '  and  balked  of  the  blessings  of  revenge.  Curses 
on  his  cat-like  life  that  clings  to  the  clods  of  clay.  How 
the  fates  do  outwit  my  wishes ;  neither  my  knife  nor  my 
ball  seems  able  to  cut  that  gordian  knot,  but  by  the  with- 
ering wrath  of  all  the  hosts  of  hideous  hate  I'll  down  him 
yet  or  I'll  die." 

William  Dodge  as  yet  had  lost  none  of  his  bitterness. 
The  black  waters  were  still  surging  through  his  heart, 
and  the  delayed  gratification  of  his  fiendish  designs  only 
served  to  intensify  the  bitterness  of  his  passion.  He  may 
have  become  more  calm  from  continued  reflection,  but 
this  only  served  to  strengthen  his  purpose  and  fix  firmer 
in  his  mind  his  dark  design.  Long  brooding  over  the 
horrible  deed  he  contemplated  had  to  some  extent  robbed 
it  of  its  awful  deformity  and  made  it  a  more  sightly  sub- 
ject to  approach.  So  rankly  had  he  come  to  loathe  and 
hate  the  name  of  Charles  Reed  he  could  have  crushed  his 
life  with  less  compunction  than  the  savage  feels  when  he 
grinds  with  his  heel  the  mean  insect  that  has  stung  him. 
The  hideous  deformity  of  his  debased  nature  gave  him 
no  rest.  He  hated  himself  for  being  hateful ;  liated  vir- 
tue for  being  virtuous ;  and  hated  passion  for  being  pas- 
sionate. He  could  not  hope,  for  hope  he  now  despised. 
He  could  not  rest,  for  rest  tortured  him  as  a  mirror  re- 
vealing his  hideous,  hateful  life.     On  and  on  and  on  he 


YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE.  463 

must  go,  fleeing  from  himself  with  all  his  might  while  a 
whip  of  scorpions  lashed  his  lingering  flight.  lie  denied 
he  had  a  conscience  that  could  suffer,  yet  his  writhing 
conscience  told  him  that  in  the  denial  his  foul  and  filthy 
tongue  did  but  lie. 

History  tells  us  that  Nero  set  Rome  on  fire  and  then 
played  his  fiddle  while  the  city  was  burning,  and  just  so 
William  Dodge  had  fallen  down,  down,  down  from  base- 
ness to  total  depravity,  until  the  only  gratification  he 
was  capable  of  receiving  was  to  contemplate  the  intensity 
of  agonizing  torture.  Had  bodily  pain  been  visited 
upon  him ;  had  physical  suffering  taken  possession  of  his 
limbs,  he  might  have  been  called  back  from  the  awful 
doom  of  soul  depravity.  Health  to  him  was  a  curse  as 
it  has  been,  and  is,  and  ever  will  be,  to  many  and  many 
a  soul  defying  God's  power  and  rejecting  God's  mercy. 

AVhen  William  Dodge  received  back  the  stolen  papers, 
he  pronounced  it  lucky.  Luck}^,  because  the  veil  of  fu- 
turity was  drawn  down  tight  before  his  blinded  eyes  ; 
lucky  because  the  safe  return  of  those  papers  was  essen- 
tial to  the  success  of  his  more  recent  plans.  He  would 
bring  the  strong  arm  of  the  Government  to  his  aid,  and 
under  the  plea  to  punish  the  sin  of  secession  and  the 
wickedness  of  rebellion,  he  would  burn  the  property  of 
all  the  Reeds,  and  drag  Helen  Moore  from  her  South- 
ern home  to  a  Northern  prison.  How  easy  to  concoct  a 
charge ;  how  readily  can  wit  and  money  procure  evidence. 
"  Yes,  I'll  do  it,  by  all  the  strength  of  Hercules.  I'll  do 
it ;  that  will  be  ten  thousand  living  deaths  to  Charles 
Reed,  and  to  me  revenge  is  as  sweet  as  ever,  dripped  from 
the  honied  fingers  of  the  worshipful  Nemesis." 

He  had  planned  for  the  proposed  raid  to  come  off,  while 
Charles  was  at  home  with  a  view  to  bag  both  birds  at  the 
same  time;  but  circumstances  had  delayed  the  enterprise. 
He  will  now  hasten  on  to  the  army  of  General  Milroy,  and, 
in  a  little  while,  the  proud  beauty  would  be  in  his  power. 


464  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

He  would  not  risk  going  on  tne  raid  himself;  possibly 
the  scheme  might  miscarry,  in  that  case  it  would  be  safer 
over  the  lines ;  but  no  trouble  to  find  some  one  to  do  the 
dirty  work  with  these  one  thousand  greenbacks  to  offer 
as  the  reward ;  and  he  held  up  the  notes  to  the  light 
which  he  drew  from  his  pocket. 

But  what  means  this  terrible  commotion  in  the  streets; 
this  cheering  of  the  citizens;  this  waving  of  handker- 
chiefs by  the  women.  The  news  boys'  cry  tell  the  story. 
"  Jackson  is  coming ! "  "  Shields  is  defeated  !  "  "  Jackson 
is  coming ! "     "  Shields  is  defeated !  " 

The  revery  of  Mr.  Dodge  is  cut  short  in  its  enjoyment. 
The  panic  of  the  Shields  men  is  extended  to  Mr.  Dodge. 
Quicker  than  pen  can  tell  it,  he  realizes  it  will  not  do  to 
be  taken,  so  he  seizes  his  satchel  and  speeds  over  the 
bridge  into  Maryland,  where  he  is  duly  rallied  the  next 
day,  and  returned  to  the  front  in  good  order. 


/^^\ 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

DURING  the  night  after  the  battle  at  Kernstown,  Jack- 
son fell  back,  and  continued  his  march  on  to  the  Elk 
Run  Valley,  which  lies  right  in  the  gorge  of  the  Swift 
Run  Gap  in  the  Blue  Ridge  mountains.  He  had  brought 
off  with  him  all  of  his  prisoners,  as  also  the  large  amount 
of  ordnance  stores  and  commissary  supplies  which  he 
had  captured,  so  when  Banks  arrived  the  next  morning 
with  his  20,000  fresh  troops,  he  found  nothing  but  the 
shattered  army  of  Shields,  with  no  foe  in  sight  capable  of 
doing  so  much  damage.  And  then,  instead'of  pursuing 
after  Jackson  as  he  might  have  done,  he  set  his  men  to 
work  ditching  and  fortifying,  as  though  military  prudence 
dictated  that  thirty  odd  thousand  troops  should  build 
breastworks  to  protect  themselves  against  eight  thousand. 

The  battle  of  Kernstown  was  more  than  a  victory  to 
the  Confederates,  for  it  brought  Banks  back  to  the  Valley 
and  kept  him  there  to  protect  Washington,  which  never 
was  really  threatened  ;  it  thwarted  McClellan  in  his  pro- 
posed pLan  of  concentration  ;  prevented  the  defeat  of  John- 
ston at  Manassas,  and  enabled  that  officer  to  safely  with- 
draw his  army  from  before  the  overwhelming  forces  of 
McClellan,  and  lodge  the  Confederate  troops  in  a  strong 
position  along  the  south  bank  of  the  Rapidan  river,  and 
lastly,  but  not  least,  the  battle  of  Kernstown  gave  to  the 
name  of  Jackson  so  much  of  terror  and  mysterious  power 
it  spread  consternation  through  the  ranks  of  the  enemy 
wherever  he  appeared,  paralyizing  their  energy  and  robbing 
them  of  courage. 

The  retreat  by  Jackson  into  the  gorge  of  the  Swift  Run 
Gap  was  indeed  a  masterly  move  of  skillful  strategy,  for 
SO  (465) 


466  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

here  he  was  in  easy  communication  with  his  base  of  sup- 
plies at  Gordonsville  and  capable  at  any  time  of  reinforc- 
ing Johnston,  now  at  Culpeper,  by  a  single  day's  march  ; 
besides  his  position  in  the  gap  protected  him  from  being 
flanked  by  the  superior  forces  of  the  enemy,  while  they 
dare  not  go  past  him  on  up  the  Valley  towards  Staunton 
for  that  would  place  him  immediately  in  their  rear  and 
cut  off  their  retreat. 

One  of  the  remarkable  things  in  war  is  the  effect  that 
a  rear  attack  will  produce  on  a  body  of  troops  ;  five  thou- 
sand men  charging  up  in  the  rear  will  often  cause  more 
alarm  and  produce  more  consternation  than  fifty  thous- 
and steadily  advancing  in  front — a  fact  which  no  officer 
on  either  side  during  the  late  war  seems  to  have  so  fully 
appreciated  as  General  Jackson. 

Mr.  Prosser,  after  he  left  Mr.  Dodge  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
made  his  way  to  Martinsburg,  where,  in  due  time,  he 
found  Miss  Boyd,  to  whom  he  delivered  General  Jackson's 
letter.  He  found  the  young  lady  in  the  conservatory 
gathering  a  bouquet  of  flowers.  She  received  the  letter, 
read  it  carefully,  then  tore  it  into  pieces  and  handed  it 
back  to  Mr.  Prosser,  saying,  *'  Put  that  in  your  pocket  and 
scatter  it  as  you  go ;  it  will  now  bear  no  record,"  then 
smiling,  extended  her  hand,  and  continued,  "  I  am  sorry 
I  cannot  invite  you  to  stay,  but  I  am  expecting  company. 
I  must  entertain  the  Blue  to-night,  that  I  may  post  the 
Gray  to-morrow.  Tell  General  Jackson  that  I  know  the 
gentleman,  and  will  give  advice  of  his  movements." 

As  she  closed  the  sentence  she  drew  herself  up  to  her 
full  height  and  looked  straight  at  Mr.  Prosser,  with  her 
deep-blue  expressive  eyes,  and  then  with  a  smile  full  of 
meaning,  said,  "  Whoso  serves  the  land  I  cherish  may 
wear  the  flower  I  love,"  and  she  pinned  a  white  rose  on 
the  lappel  of  his  coat. 

The  reader  may  know  the  strange,  eventful  history  of 
Belle  Boyd.    She  was  young,  she  was  beautiful,  she  was 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  467 

bright,  she  was  full  of  vivacity,  she  was  a  daughter  of 
Old  Virginia,  and  dearly  she  loved  the  grand  Old  Com- 
monwealth. To  use  her  own  words :  "  She  was  a  woman, 
she  could  not  fight,  but  she  could  furnish  information 
that  would  serve  the  Southern  cause." 

She  flirted  with  the  Federal  officers,  wheedled  them 
out  of  what  knowledge  they  had  of  military  movements, 
and  sent  the  information  to  her  friends  in  Dixie.  Twice 
she  was  detected,  twice  she  was  arrested ;  twice  she  was 
tried  and  twice  condemned  to  be  shot,  but  Mr.  Lincoln 
with  a  gallantry  that  did  credit  to  his  noble  heart,  stayed 
the  sentence  and  would  not  allow  a  woman  to  be  exe- 
cuted. This  writer  hopes  to  travel  to  his  grave  some 
day,  and,  if  so,  will  leave  a  flower  in  commemoration  of 
that  noble  deed. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  about  Mr.  Lincoln's  humanity, 
nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  about  the  fact  that  he  did  not 
regard  the  action  of  the  South  as  a  cruel,  cold-blooded 
unpardonable  act  of  treason.  There  is  no  question  raised 
as  to  his  fixed  and  firm  determination  to  preserve  the 
Union.  This  he  seems  to  have  regarded  as  a  duty  which 
he  owed  to  tlie  whole  country,  no  less  to  the  South  against 
whom  he  was  struggling,  than  to  the  North  from  which 
he  drew  his  support.  He  regarded  the  South  as  he  would 
have  done  a  sick  man  laboring  under  a  natural  distemper 
to  whom  it  was  necessary  to  administer  bitter,  distaste- 
ful medicines  in  order  to  perfect  a  cure,  but  there  was  no 
malice  in  his  heart,  no  malignity;  no  feeling  of  revenge; 
no  disposition  to  inflict  chastisement  purely  for  chastise- 
ment's sake. 

From  all  accounts  he  must  have  been  an  unusually 
happy  man.  He  was  just  what  he  was;  no  less,  no  more; 
no  bigger,  no  smaller;  no  richer,  no  poorer;  no  more 
grand,  no  less  humble.  He  laughed  and  joked  when  he 
split  rails ;  he  laughed  and  joked  when  he  was  President. 
He  was  contented  when  he  lived  in  a  log  cabin ;   he  was 


468  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

not  arrogant  when  he  lodged  in  the  White  House.  He 
did  what  he  thought  was  right,  and  slept  believing  he 
enjoyed  the  blessings  of  Providence.  To  his  name  and 
exalted  fame  I  offer  the  tribute  of  a  "  reconstructed  rebel;" 
to  his  departed  spirit,  a  fervent  requiescat  in  pace. 

Some  ten  days  or  more  had  passed  since  the  battle  of 
Kernstown,  yet  nothing  had  been  heard  of  William 
Dodge,  nor  of  his  proposed  raid.  Charles  Reed  was  grow- 
iiig  impatient.  He  felt  uneasy  as  to  the  safety  of  his 
liome  and  the  protection  of  those  near  there  who  were  so 
dear  to  his  heart.  He  had  written  to  Helen  as  often  as 
circumstances  would  permit,  and  tried  to  cheer  and  com- 
fort her  in  every  way  possible,  for  he  knew  the  deep 
anxiety  she  felt  for  his  safety,  but  despite  his  best  efforts 
there  was  something  in  liis  letters  of  late  which  caused 
Helen  much  pain.  They  contained  no  allusion  to  that 
abused  and  deeply  wronged  friendship  which  had  been 
the  source  of  so  much  sorrow  to  Charles  since  his  return 
to  the  army,  but  there  was  a  lack  of  his  natural  gaiety, 
a  dearth  of  that  free,  easy  flow  of  spirits  which  had  shown 
the  contentment  of  his  heart  and  the  happiness  of  his 
life.  Distrust  had  ever  been  absent  in  his  estimate  of 
men,  but  a  new  and  startling  revelation  had  been  revealed 
to  his  mind.  The  depravity  of  man;  the  base,  unnatural 
depravity  of  man  had  been  presented  in  all  of  its  awful 
deformit}' ;  and  the  revelation  saddened  his  life  and  filled 
him  with  sorrow.  Pie  still  believed  in  the  goodness  of 
the  world ;  he  still  clung  to  a  fixed  faith  in  the  great  heart 
of  humanity ;  he  still  trusted  mankind  as  a  whole,  but 
now  he  did  not  know;  he  could  not  know  how  many 
there  be,  like  this  one,  false,  cruel  and  depraved.  Over 
and  over  again  in  his  mind  the  thought  revolved:  "Judas 
betrayed  Christ  with  a  kiss — sold  the  Saviour  for  silver  ; 
Delilah  bound  Sampson  with  cords — delivered  her  lover 
for  death  ;  Brutus  stabbed  Cffisar,  his  friend  ;  and  William 
Dodge  would  have  taken  my  life."     "  Unnatural,  inexpli- 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  469 

cable;"  yet,  "Father,  forgive  them;  they  know  not  what 
they  do." 

These  thoughts  saddened  the  life  of  Charles  Reed.  He 
could  not  helj)  it ;  and,  as  the  water  shows  its  depth  by 
its  coloring,  so  the  j^ainful  feelings  that  filled  Charles's 
heart  gave  a  shadowing  to  the  beauty  of  his  flowing 
spirits;  and  this  shadow  Helen  quickly  detected,  for  the 
eyes  of  love  are  watchful,  and  affection  is  zealous  of  its 
care. 

Helen  had  no  idea  as  to  what  was  the  source  of  Charles's 
depression.  She  tried  to  think,  but  no  light  came  with 
her  thoughts, so  she  finally  concluded  that  it  was  the  care 
of  command,  or  anxiety  for  the  welfare  of  the  cause  he 
was  serving;  and  she  did  all  that  she  could  do  to  lead 
his  thoughts  away  from  all  painful  subjects.  She  wrote 
him  often,  and  wrote  him  long  letters ;  she  told  him  what 
she  did,  and  how  she  spent  her  time;  who  she  saw,  and 
where  she  went ;  and  her  letters  were  such  a  picture  gal- 
lery of  her  home  life,  Charles  could  almost  imagine 
that  he  was  there  with  her  in  the  enjoyment.  But  al- 
though she  wrote  him  cheerful  letters,  she  was  not  with- 
out her  care,  for  her  father's  health  was  gradually  on  the 
decline,  and  he  was  now  quite  feeble.  He  had  brooded 
over  that  strange  vision,  neglecting  all  exercise  and  care 
of  himself  so  long,  it  could  but  tell  upon  his  strength, 
and  hasten  the  decline  of  old  age.  He  made  no  com- 
plaint; he  was  usually  cheerful,  and  enjoyed  a  fair  appe- 
tite, and  was  so  patient  in  his  indisposition,  Helen  did 
not  realize  how  fast  he  was  failing.  He  never  spoke  of 
Mr.  Dodge  for,  by  some  means  he  could  not  tell,  there 
had  been  a  reflux  in  his  feelings  in  regard  to  Mr.  Dodge, 
and  a  suspicion  had  crossed  his  mind  that  that  worthy 
had  acted  a  part  for  a  purpose.  So  one  rainy  afternoon, 
while  Helen  was  sitting  with  him  in  his  room,  he  spoke 
to  her, and  said,  "  My  darling, take  these  keys  and  unlock 
ni}''  writing  desk  there,  and  get  me  the  papers  you  will 
find  in  a  large  yellow  envelope  to  the  left  side." 


470  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

Helen  put  down  the  copy  of  "  Pollock's  Course  of 
Time  "  which  she  had  been  reading,  took  the  keys  from 
his  hand  and  got  the  papers  required.  As  she  handed 
them  to  him  she  saw  from  the  expression  of  his  face  that 
there  was  something  he  w^ished  to  say.  She  spoke  not  a 
word,  but  quietly  slipped  a  little  cushion  close  to  his  feet, 
sat  down  and  rested  her  arms  across  his  knees.  He 
looked  at  her  for  one  moment  in  silence,  the  expression  of 
his  face  indicating  the  deep  devotion  his  heart  felt  for 
her.  Then  selecting  one  of  the  papers  from  the  envelope, 
said: 

"My  daughter,  all  that  I  own  in  this  world  I  desire  shall 
be  yours.  Should  I  die  intestate  the  law  makes  you  my 
sole  heir.  This  paper  is  my  will.  It  contains  some  di- 
rections which  I  desire  to  change,  but  it  makes  one  pro- 
vision which  I  wish  you  to  remember  when  I  am  gone:  I 
desire  to  leave  a  special  legacy  of  one  hundred  dollars  to 
each  one  of  my  servants  above  the  age  of  twenty-one,  to. 
be  enjoyed  by  them  just  as  they  please.  I  now  with  my 
own  hands  destroy  this  paper  "  (and  as  he  spoke  he  laid 
it  upon  the  fire),  "and  tlius  defeat  what  I  fear  are  the  de- 
signs of  the  person  named  herein  as  co-executor  with 
Charles.  I  hope  and  trust  before  I  go  to  see  j-ou  safe 
under  the  protecting  care  of  his  love  as  his  dutiful  wife. 
You  both  will  remember  this,  will  you  not,  my  daugh- 
ter?" and  he  drew  her  nearer  to  him  and  kissed  her 
trembling  lips.  Her  heart  was  too  full  to  say  more  than 
the  two  words,  "  We  will,"  but  she  passed  her  arms 
around  him  and  again  and  again  pressed  her  lips  to  his, 
then  leaning  her  head  against  his  bosom  gave  way  in  a 
burst  of  tears  to  the  grief  against  which  she  had  so  long 
been  struggling. 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

WAR  in  the  South  had  become  a  terrible  reality.  It 
was  being  brought  with  all  of  its  horrors  home  to  the 
hearts  and  hearthstones  of  that  brave  but  unfortunate 
people.  The  policy  of  the  Washington  Government  was 
to  raise  armies  so  vast  and  to  add  to  their  momentum  by 
such  perfect  equipment  as  to  overwhelm  the  forces  of  the 
South  by  material  weight  Under  the  industrious  and 
organizing  management  of  General  McClellan  the  aggre- 
gate of  their  armies  now  swelled  to  the  enormous  propor- 
tions of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men — a  host 
three  times  as  numerous  as  that  which  the  South  could 
muster. 

With  this  grand  combination  of  human  machinery 
the  Federals  gained  decided  advantages  in  the  East, 
South  and  Southwest  early  in  the  struggle.  They  won 
the  battle  of  Mill  Spring  and  with  it  the  larger  portion  of 
the  territory  of  Kentucky.  They  were  victorious  at  the 
battle  of  Roanoke  Island  and  gained  the  key  to  all  of  the 
inland  waters  of  North  Carolina.  They  established  them- 
selves there  and  forced  the  evacuation  of  Norfolk, 
and  Fortress  Monroe.  They  swept  past  with  their 
war  steamers  Island  No.  10  and  opened  the  Mississippi 
from  the  Gulf  to  the  city  of  Memphis.  They  captured 
Fort  Henry  and  sailed  up  the  Tennessee.  They  reduced 
Fort  Donelson  and  became  masters  of  the  waters  of  the 
Cumberland  river,  and  thus  by  this  series  of  victories 
gained  possession  of  the  larger  portions  of  the  States  of 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  and  sev- 
ered the  trans-Mississippi  States  from  the  main  body  of 
the  Confederacy 

(471) 


472  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

It  also  seems  to  have  been  the  policy  of  the  Federal 
Government,  or  the  Federal  officers,  or  the  Federal  sol- 
diers, to  capture,  burn  or  otherwise  destroy  every  species 
of  property,  whether  public  or  private,  which  could  be  of 
any  use  to  them  or  advantage  to  the  Confederacy,  and 
many  a  heart  was  made  sad  and  many  an  orphan  left 
homeless  by  the  spirit  of  desolation  and  the  policy  of  de- 
vastation. 

McClellan,  frustrated  in  his  plans  to  unite  the  army  of 
Banks  to  his  own,  withdrew  his  troops  from  the  plains 
before  Manassas,  and  transferred  his  operations  to  the 
peninsula  below  Richmond.  Johnston  moved  over  the 
shorter  line  through  the  city  and  again  confronted  his 
adversary  on  the  Chickahominy.  Banks  reorganized  his 
forces  in  the  Valley,  and  contented  himself  to  sit  down 
near  Harrisonburg  and  prevent  Jackson  from  taking 
Washington. 

General  Milroy,  wdth  more  energy,  more  boldness,  or 
perhaps  wdth  less  caution,  had  pushed  his  army  forward 
from  the  northwest  over  the  Alleghanies  to  the  little  vil- 
lage of  McDowell,  at  the  foot  of  the  Shenandoah  moun- 
tain, some  twenty  miles  west  from  Staunton,  where  he 
was  confronted  by  General  Edward  Johnson  w^tli  a  small 
force,  but  in  a  strong  position.  General  Milroy's  army 
amounted  to  about  10,000  men,  while  the  little  brigade 
of  Edward  Johnson  did  not  exceed  one-fourth  of  that 
number. 

General  Jackson  conceived  the  idea  of  stealing  a  march 
on  General  Banks,  and  in  a  secret  move  pay  his  respects 
to  Milroy  at  McDowell,  who  was  in  reality  threatening 
Staunton. 

Jackson  took  General  Reed  alone  into  his  conhdence 
and  explained  to  him  the  proposed  moves.     He  would 
cross  his  army  over  the  Blue  Ridge  as  though  he  in 
tended  to  turn  north,  and  then  recross  the  mountains 
again  in  rear  of  General  Banks,  but  in  reality  to  turn 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  473 

south,  make  a  forced  march  to  Charlottesville,  and  from 
there  transport  his  troops  by  rail  to  Staunton,  which  he 
could  easily  reach  the  same  day;  form  a  junction  with 
Edward  Johnson,  and  fall  upon  Milroy  unawares. 

General  Reed  was  delighted  at  the  idea,  and  exclaimed 
excitedly,  "Let's  do  it,  general;  let's  do  it!  Our  troops  arc 
impatient  to  be  at  something  new.  Ashby  with  his  cav- 
alry can  make  a  big  show  to  conceal  the  move  until  wo 
are  far  on  the  way.  Besides,  if  we  drive  Milroy  from  Mc- 
Dowell, that  will  defeat  the  proposed  raid  of  Mr.  Dodge 
on  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  canal.  You  remember 
the  paper  stated  the  troops  were  to  be  furnished  by  Gen- 
eral Milroy." 

"  That  is  true,  but  I  am  not  so  anxious  to  put  a  stop  to 
that  start,  for,  I  think,  our  gallant  boy,  Charles,  with  his 
regiment,  could  capture  the  whole  expedition.  But  if 
they  are  going,  I  don't  see  why  they  have  not  gone,  nor 
do  I  understand  why  I  have  not  heard  from  Miss  Boyd." 
Then  looking  up  quickly  continued,  "  I  will  tell  you  what 
we  will  do,  we  will  take  Charles  and  his  troopers  with  us 
as  far  as  Charlottesville,  and  leave  them  there  to  watch 
and  wait  for  developments.'' 

Just  as  General  Jackson  ceased  speaking,  some  one 
knocked  at  the  door.  "Come  in,"  said  General  Jackson, 
and  a  courier  entered  and  handed  him  a  letter,  saying, 
"  Dispatch  from  General  Ashby."  Then  waiting  a  mo- 
ment, while  General  Jackson  read  the  letter,  asked:  "Is 
there  any  reply?" 

"  No ;  thank  you — yes,  tell  General  Ashby  I  wish  to 
see  him  this  afternoon." 

The  letter  from  General  Ashby  contained  another  which 
he  said  his  scouts  from  beyond  the  enemy's  lines  had 
brought  him  that  morning. 

General  Jackson  opened  the  enclosed  letter  and  handed 
the  envelope  to  General  Reed,  who,  noting  the  delicate 
handwriting  of  the  address,  laughed  and  said,  "I  see  you, 
will  correspond  with  the  ladies,  Generall" 


474  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

"  Or,  at  least,"  replied  the  general,  srailing,  "  they  will 
correspond  with  me ;  but  this  is  from  my  special  friend, 
Miss  Belle  Boyd." 

The  letter  apparently  was  nothing  more  than  an  ordi- 
nary friendly  letter,  of  half  a  page,  containing  some  trivial 
request  in  regard  to  a  friend  that  was  in  Jackson's  army. 

General  Jackson  handed  the  letter  to  General  Reed, 
who  read  it  through  with  rather  a  disappointed  expression, 
and  then  raised  his  eyes  with  a  puzzled,  inquisitive  look. 

General  Jackson  smiled  significantly,  and  then  said,  "I 
must  let  you  into  a  secret,  my  friend;  but,  mark,  you 
must  never  tell." 

General  Jackson  then  took  the  letter  and  turning  it 
with  the  written  side  down,  laid  it  on  a  smooth  board 
and  poured  a  few  drops  of  a  creamy  colored  liquid  from 
a  vial  on  the  lower  left  hand  corner.  He  then  held  the 
letter  up  in  the  air  a  moment  to  dry,  and  the  following 
words  became  perfectly  legible: 

"Mr.  Dodge  left  here  on  the  10th  to  join  Milroy  at 
McDowell.  He  claims  to  be  a  non-combatant,  but  pre- 
tends to  be  in  sympathy  with  the  South.  I  think  there 
is  a  proposed  raid  to  start  from  McDowell,  go  via  Goshen 
Gap,  Lexington  and  Rockfish  Gap,  and  cut  the  James 
River  and  Kanawha  canal  at  Hardwicksville.  I  peeped 
at  an  order  to  Milroy  to  that  effect. 

"  Yours  to  command,  "  B.  B." 

"  Left  on  the  10th,"  exclaimed  General  Reed;  "  this  is 
the  13th.  They  may  start  before  we  get  to  McDowell," 
said  General  Reed,  thoughtfully. 

"  Let  them  start  if  they  wish;  they  only  ride  to  death 
or  to  prison.  They  can't  hurt  the  canal  before  Charles 
can  get  there,  and  the  commissary  stores  that  had  been 
collected  at  your  place  have  been  shipped  to  Richmond." 

"  Well,  if  they  should  start  I  trust  Charles  will  capture 
the  last  one  of  them.  I  told  him  to  take  William  Dodge 
alive,  if  possible." 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 


475 


"Why,  you  have  no  idea  that  Dodge  will  go  on  that 
raid,  have  you?" 

"  Why  not,  since  he  seems  to  have  planned  it?" 

"What!  when  he  knows  he  will  be  shot  if  he  is  cap- 
tured? Ob!  no.  Dodge  is  too  smart  for  that,  besides,  he 
knows  he  might  be  recognized  even  if  he  is  not  captured. 
If  he  goes  there  he  has  made  up  his  mind  never  to  re- 
turn here.  I  don't  think  he  has  done  that.  Miss  Boyd 
said  he  claimed  to  be  a  non-combatant  and  professed 
sympathy  for  the  South.  The  pay  of  a  spy  is  enormous. 
Dodge  will  soon  be  back  with  us  again.  But  to  change 
the  subject,  you  must  be  ready  to  march  by  daylight 
to-morrow  morning,  and  you  will  please  notify  Charles 
that  he  must  be  ready  also." 

At  the  same  hour  that  the  above  conference  was  being 
held  at  Jackson's  headquarters,  two  young  men  were 
closely  closeted  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  principal  hotel 
at  McDowell.  One  of  these  young  men  was  dressed  in 
a  handsome  Federal  uniform,  indicating  the  rank  of  cap- 
tain. He  was  rather  stout,  had  light  sandy  hair,  heavy 
eyebrows,  low  forehead  and  thick  lips;  while  his  wander- 
ing eyes  were  the  palest  of  pale  blue;  a  single  glance 
would  tell  you  that  he  was  coarse  and  capable  of  dirty 
work,  but  no  coward.  The  other  person  was  dressed  in 
citizen's  costume,  drab  colored, and  fashionably  cut.  His 
white  collar,  white  cuffs,  white  hands  and  immaculate 
shirt  front  proclaimed  his  taste  for  exterior  cleanliness ; 
his  eyes  were  blue,  his  hair  was  light,  his  figure  tall,  and 
his  voice  sweet  and  persuasive,  while  his  manner  was  of 
that  courteous,  insinuating,  take-it-for-granted  style  which 
seems  to  say  "I  am  right — you  can't  deny — you  won't 
refuse,"  but  the  autocrat  in  appearance  had  met  his  match 
in  practice  this  time,  for  there  seemed  to  be  a  point  of 
variance  between  them.  The  autocrat  of  practice  was 
willing  that  the  autocrat  of  appearance  might  name  the 
service,  but  the  autocrat  of  practice  was  inexorable  in  his 
demand  to  name  the  consideration. 


476  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

"  No,  sir,  not  one  penny  less — one  thousand'  greenback 
dollars  cash  counted  down  on  this  table,  ■^'ith  a  written 
order  of  instructions  is  my  ultimatum.  You  will  agree, or 
we  will  agree  that  you  seek  some  other  agent  to  do 
your  dirty  work," 

"Come,  now;  can't  you  be  reasonable?  I'll  agree  to 
one-half  cash  and  the  balance  in  case  of  success.  There 
is  no  need  of  any  written  instructions ;  be  reasonable. 
Can't  you  trust  me?" 

"Trust  you!  trust  you,  William  Dodge? — I  believe 
that  is  what  you  call  yourself;  trust  jou,  who  propose  to 
bribe  me  to  kidnap  a  lady  (I  won't  call  it  capture),  and 
thus  disgrace  the  uniform  I  wear,  and  all  this  to  gratify 
some  hellish  design  of  your  own?  Trust  you?  Turn, 
look  in  yonder  mirror  and  ask  the  sleek,  slimj^-tongued 
brute  that  answers  the  look,  if  you  are  to  be  trusted? 
No,  I  wdll  not  trust  3'ou,  and  for  the  asking  I'll  say  add 
five  hundred  dollars  more  to  the  amount ;  then  it  shall 
be  one  thousand  for  the  dirty  work,  and  five  hundred  for 
your  impudence." 

"  Come,  captain ;  you  are  unreasonable;  here  is  the  one 
thousand  cash  down.  You  don't  need  any  written  in- 
structions. I  will  trust  to  your  honor  to  do  the  best  you 
can,  and  be  satisfied  with  the  issue." 

"  Don't  parley  with  me,  William  Dodge.  Count  down 
on  that  table  fifteen  hundred  dollars  from  that  bank  of 
notes  3'ou  hold  in  your  hand,  and  then  write  the  order 
for  the  arrest  of  one  Helen  Moore  before  you  open  your 
rat-trap  mouth  again,  else,  I  say,  the  sum  shall  be  two 
thousand." 

The  face  of  William  Dodge  flushed  crimson,  his  eyes 
flashed  angrily;  he  arose  from  his  chair,  put  the  money 
back  in  his  pocket,  straightened  himself  up  to  his  full 
height,  looked  at  the  officer,  and  said,  liaughtily  :  "  Our 
interview  is  ended,  sir;  I  vdW  seek  a  less  insolent  agent," 
turned  and  started  for  the  door. 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  477 

"Stop,  sir;"  exclaimed  the  officer,  fiercely,  and  he 
stepped  forward  quickly,  turned  the  key  in  the  lock,  and 
stood  with  his  hand  resting  on  the  knob,  then  added  with 
an  expression  of  withering  scorn,  **For  that  insulting 
word  " insolent,'  you  add  five  hundred  dollars  more;  count 
down  on  yonder  table  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars 
without  another  word,  or  I  shall  march  you  under  arrest 
to  the  presence  of  General  Milroy,  and  offer  my  version 
of  this  interview  first." 

Dodge  saw  the  man  meant  just  what  he  said;  he  saw 
disgrace  staring  him  full  in  the  face;  his  heart  cow^ered  ; 
his  limbs  trembled;  his  face  paled  back  to  deathly  pallor; 
his  eyes  fell  to  the  floor. 

"Not  one  moment  of  hesilation,  sir;"  and  the  officer 
jerked  his  sword  from  the  scabbard  and  half  opened  the 
door. 

William  Dodge  did  not  so  much  as  look  up ;  he  drew 
the  roll  of  notes  from  his  pocket,  w^alked  to  the  table  and 
counted  down  twenty-five  hundred  dollars.  He  then 
looked  up  at  the  officer  who,  in  reply  to  the  look,  said: 

"  Now  write  the  order  at  my  dictation." 

Mr.  Dodge  took  up  a  pen  from  the  table,  placed  a  sheet 
of  paper  before  him,  and  Ihe  officer  began: 

'•  [Special  Order  No.  1.] 

"  McDowell,  Va.,  December  13,  186 — . 
"  lo  Captain  John  Green, 

Commanding  3d  Battalion  Pennsylvania 

Light  Dragoons: 

"Sir — In  accordance  with  instructions  from  the  Secretary 
of  AVar,  hereto  attached,  you  will  proceed  with  your  com- 
mand by  the  way  of  Goshen  Gap,  Lexington  and 
Rockfish  Gap  to  the  neighborhood  of  Hardwicks- 
ville,  Eastern  Virginia,  at  which  point  you  are  to 
destroy  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  canal ;  thence 
to  the  residence  of  Dabney  Reed,  where  you  will  destroy 


478  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

all  commissary  stores  that  3'ou  may  find  there  collected. 
You  Avili  take  possession  of  all  horses  and  mules  that  you 
may  come  upon  fit  for  military  service ;  and,  further,  you 
are  specially  instructed  to  capture,  if  possible,  one  Helen 
Moore,  of  Oak  Grove,  who  has  rendered  herself  obnox- 
ious to  the  government  by  meddling  communications 
sent  through  the  lines.  You  will  do  such  other  and  fur- 
ther damage  while  in  the  enemy's  country  as  tend  to 
cripple  the  rebellion  and  weaken  the  enemy's  power,  and 
this  shall  be  your  authority  for  the  same. 

"  William  Dodge, 
"  By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War." 

Captain  Green  then  took  the  Secretary's  letter,  which 
still  lay  on  the  table,  pinned  the  two  papers  together, 
folded  them  around  the  money,  placed  the  whole  in  his 
breast  pocket,  and  said  to  Mr.  Dodge  : 

"  Now,  sir,  you  may  go." 

Mr.  Dodge  was  completely  subdued  ;  he  felt  what  the 
dog  must  feel  when  he  is  caught  killing  a  sheep — he  felt 
debased,  he  felt  mean.  He  had  no  pride  to  be  wounded ; 
for  pride  is  inordinate  self-esteem.  William  Dodge  knew 
his  hateful  life  too  well  to  have  any  self-esteem. 

What  to  do,  or  what  to  say,  he  did  not  know;  tears  of 
pain  and  mortification  gathered  in  his  eyes,  and  his  trem- 
bling lips  told  the  depth  of  his  humiliatioUo  For  one 
moment  some  better  spirit  hovered  near  him,  and  regret 
for  what  he  was  swept  over  his  heart.  He  arose  and 
tried  to  speak,  to  say 

"  Keep  the  money,  captain,  but  leave  the  lady  alone." 

Captain  Green  noted  the  changed  expression  of  his 
face,  but  naturally  attributed  it  to  fear  and  distrust,  and 
feeling  some  touch  of  pity  mingling  with  his  contemptj 
said, in  rather  a  ?.ess  harsh  tone: 

"If  it  will  be  of  any  comfort  to  you,  Mr.  Dodge,  I  will 
say  you  may  be  assured  that  I  shall  use  my  best  endea- 
vors to  carry  out  my  instructions  to  the  letter,  and  you 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  479 

may  well  rest  satisfied  that  no  human  eye  sliall  ever  see 
these  papers  unless  it  be  absolutely  necessary  to  protect 
my  life  or  my  reputation,"  Then  noticing  that  Mr. 
Dodge  was  about  to  speak,  continuing,  said,  as  he  waved 
him  away:  "  Better  go  now,  Mr.  Dodge;  I  do  not  wish  to 
hear  any  more."  And  the  two  young  men  parted  never 
to  meet  again. 

That  night  Mr.  Dodge  started  for  Washington  City  to 
make  report,  in  part,  of  what  he  had  done  to  the  Secretary 
of  War.  He  went  with  a  heavy  heart,  half  regretting,  half 
distrusting,  ahnost  hoping  that  wind  or  tide  would  inter- 
pose and  defeat  the  project  which  he  a  little  before  had 
so  eagerly  proposed.  The  terrible  rebuke  which  he  had 
received  tliat  day  showed  him  something  of  the  contempt 
and  loathing  scorn  in  which  he  would  be  held  if  the  world 
should  come  to  know  him  as  he  was. 

It  seemstobe  oneof  the  principlesof  poorhuman  nature, 
even  for  the  meanest  of  the  mean,  to  desire  the  good  opin- 
ion of  his  fellow-man.  The  blackest  and  basest  and  most 
heartless  wretch  that  lives  will  hide  his  wicked  deeds 
from  all  humanity,  though  he  knows  that  they  are  viewed 
by  the  Omniscient  eye. 

Again  some  good  spirit  hovered  in  the  air  above  the 
head  of  William  Dodge  and  some  soft,  kind  voice  whis- 
pered to  his  heart,  "  Leave  off  and  come  away  while  mercy 
may  yet  be  found."  And  to  that  soft  voice  he  half  will- 
ingly listened,  half  consenting,  weakly  resolving,  that  he 
would  do  so  no  more,  but  abandon  the  pursuit  of  ven- 
geance, which  after  all  seem  to  be  but  a  serpent  in  the 
grass  that  would  slide  smoothly  through  the  hand  leav- 
ing a  sting  that  wrought  an  endless  pain. 

When  he  reached  Martinsburg  he  felt  tired,  weary, 
worried,  wasted  in  strength,  not  just  sick,  but  far  from 
well.  He  put  up  at  a  hotel,  resolved  to  stay  there  a  day 
or  two  and  rest,  perhaps  to  wait  and  watch  for  develop- 
ments, and  there  we  must  leave  him  for  a  time. 


CHAPTER  LXIV. 

THE  morning  of  the  14th  broke  bright  and  clear.  As 
the  stars  paled  and  went  out,  the  sky  all  along  the  East 
flushed  into  crimson  beauty,  and  bright  Aurora  with  her 
fiery  chariot  dashed  up  the  horizon  panoplied  in  splendor. 
Just  as  the  first  rays  of  the  rising  sun  flashed  along  the 
mountain  tops,  the  Third  Battalion  of  Pennsylvania  Light 
Dragoons  moved  out  from  McDowell,  under  the  command 
of  Captain  Green,  and  took  the  road  towards  Goshen  Gap. 
The  weather  had  been  pleasant,  so  the  roads  were  dry,  and 
this  enabled  the  raiders  to  move  forward  rapidly,  and  by 
noon  of  the  next  day  they  had  crossed  the  North  river 
at  Lexington,  and  stood  headed  for  Rockfish  Gap. 

At  or  about  the  same  hour  that  the  Federal  cavalry 
left  McDowell,  General  Jackson  with  two  brigades  of  his 
command,  crossed  over  the  top  of  the  Blue  Ridge  moun- 
tain into  Eastern  Virginia,  marching  away  on  his  secret 
mission.  He  had  left  behind  one  brigade  of  infantry,  all 
the  cavalry,  except  Colonel  Reed's  regiment,  and  every 
band,  drum  and  fife  that  belonged  to  the  whole  division, 
w4th  instruction  that  they  should  make  as  much  of  a 
show  as  possible  to  conceal  his  absence — so,  in  accordance 
with  this  command,  such  marching  and  counter-march- 
ing; such  flying  of  flags;  such  blowing  of  fifes,  playing 
of  bands  and  beating  of  drums  was  never  witnessed  in 
all  the  land  before.  Banks  thought  the  whole  Confede- 
racy was  coming,  and  back  down  the  Valley  he  retreated 
in  red  hot  haste,  but  in  much  good  order,  of  course. 

Jackson  pressed  on  to  Charlottesville,  where  he  found 
freight  trains  awaiting  him,  which  whirled  his  troops 
back  over  the  blue  hills  and  down  to  StauntoUj  while  the 
(480) 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  481 

sun  was  yet  shining  high  in  the  West.  No  time  was  lost. 
"Fall  in,  men;"  fall  in,"  was  the  hurried  command  of 
the  officers — "twenty  miles  more  to  go,"  and  "Jackson's 
foot  cavalry"  fell  in,  and  stepped  out  with  a  steady  pull, 
munching  parched  corn  and  cracking  jokes  as  they 
pressed  forward.  By  dark  the  junction  with  Johnson 
was  made,  and  the  men  now  much  fatigued  by  the  hard 
work  of  the  day,  wrapped  their  blankets  around  them 
and  lay  down  to  rest — to  rest,  perchance,  to  dream  sweet 
dreams  of  home;  of  wife  or  mother,  dear;  of  sisters, 
loved,  or  of  another  whose  image  lights  up  the  heart 
even  as  the  sun  lights  up  the  sky. 

The  next  morning  broke  calm  and  peaceful, and  as  the 
first  gray  streaks  of  approaching  day  stole  along  the  sky, 
and  the  twinkling  stars,  one  by  one,  paled  out  of  sight, 
the  officers  passed  around  among  the  sleeping  soldiers, 
gently  touching  one  now  and  then,  saying,  softly,  "  Up 
men,  up  and  fall  in."  "  No  cheering,  lads ;  no  cheering. 
Not  a  word  until  we  break  over  the  hills."  Down  in  the 
Valley  below,  among  the  white  tents,  drums  were  beat- 
ing, sounding  the  reveille,8ind  soon  the  half-clad  men  were 
seen  issuing  from  their  comfortable  quarters,  and  forming 
in  irregular  lines,  where  they  stood  shivering  in  the  crisp 
mountain  air,  answering  to  the  morning  roll  call ;  which 
duty  accomplished,  they  hurried  back  and  curled  up  un- 
der their  coverings,  unconscious  of  the  danger  fast  ap- 
proaching, and  of  death  right  at  the  door  for  many. 

Jackson  and  Johnson  formed  their  troops  into  three 
lines  of  battle,  one  behind  the  other,  and  advanced  dovv'n 
into  the  plain.  The  first  two  lines  were  to  make  the  at- 
tack, the  third  to  be  held  in  reserve.  The  enemy  did  not 
observe  their  approach  until  they  were  within  eight  hun- 
dred yards  of  the  camp.  Then  the  signal  gun  was  fired, 
and  answering  rattled  a  hundred  drums,  beating  the  long- 
roll.  Quick  as  thought  the  Federals  rushed  to  arms, 
formed  in  line,  and  turned  to  face  Jackson's  men,  now 
81 


482  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

charging  over  the  plain.  The  Federals  stood  their  ground 
bravely — they  fought  like  men ;  but  they  fired  their  vol- 
ley a  little  too  soon  to  prove  effective.  It  was  answered 
by  a  "rebel  yell,"  which  rose  high  above  the  din  of  bat- 
tle, and  was  repeated  again  and  again  as  the  charging 
line  rushed  upon  the  Federals  and  mowed  them  down 
with  shot,  or  pinned  them  to  the  earth  with  the  bayonet. 
The  battle  was  "short,  sharp  and  decisive."  The  Fed- 
erals gave  way  in  disorder,  and  fled  the  field  in  precipi- 
tate flight,  leaving  their  dead  and  dying,  their  wounded 
men  and  many  prisoners,  along  with  their  camp  equip- 
age, and  all  their  stores,  in  the  hands  of  the  elated  vic- 
tors. Jackson  sent  a  veni-vidi-vici  dispatch  to  Richmond, 
simply  saying  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  "  God  has  blessed 
our  arms  with  victory  at  McDowell  to-day." 


CHAPTER  XLVo 

JACKSON  learned  from  the  citizens  of  McDowell  that 
the  Third  Battalion  of  Pennsylvania  Light  Dragoons 
had  started  on  a  secret  mission  at  sunrise  the  day  before, 
and  had  gone  in  the  direction  of  Goshen  Gap.  This  in- 
formation he  sent  off  to  Colonel  Reed  at  once  ;  but  as  it 
had  to  go  by  courier  to  Staunton,  and  be  forwarded  from 
there,  it  did  not  reach  Charles  until  late  in  the  after- 
noon. He  sprang  to  his  feet  the  moment  he  read  the 
dispatch,  and  ordered  the  bugler  to  sound  "Saddle  up." 
Twenty  minutes  later  he  was  leading  his  regiment  at  a 
fair  trot  along  the  old  turnpike  road,  which  runs  parallel 
with  the  Blue  Ridge  from  Charlottesville  to  Nelson  Court 
House,  but  he  soon  found  that  there  was  no  prudence 
in  his  impatience;  and  although  he  was  chafing  with 
anxiety,  he  was  restrained  to  slacken  his  speed.  He  cal- 
culated from  the  start  the  enemy  had,  and  the  distance 
they  had  to  travel,  that  they  must  have  passed  Rockfish 
Gap  by  that  hour ;  if  so,  they  were  then  twenty  miles 
nearer  the  goal  than  himself.  If  they  stopped  to  encamp 
for  the  night,  which  they  most  likely  would  do,  they 
could  not  reach  Hardwicksville  until  ten  o'clock  the 
next  day.  If  he  would  continue  his  march  until  mid- 
night, and  then  start  again  at  four  o'clock,  he  could  do 
the  same.  There  were  two  roads  from  Rockfish  Gap  to 
Hardwicksville.  The  most  direct  passed  by  Lovingston, 
the  county  court-house,  thence  along  the  turnpike  on 
which  Charles  was  traveling  to  the  ford  across  Mee- 
chum's  river,  where  the  Hardwicksville  road  turned  south, 
distant  about  eight  miles.  The  other  road  bore  more 
to  the  south,  and  passed  immediately  by  Melrose  Abbey, 
the  home  of  Charles  Reed. 

(483) 


484  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

Charles  was  very  sure  that  the  raiders  would  take  the 
direct  route  and  pass  back  west  by  the  Abbey  road.  He 
was,  therefore,  especially  anxious  to  reach  Meechum's  river 
and  cross  the  ford  before  the  enemy  came  up ;  he  would 
then  be  in  position  to  fight  them  to  advantage  and  to  de- 
feat them  in  their  entire  purpose.  With  this  view  he 
pressed  on  as  rapidly  as  possible  until  near  night,  when 
suddenly  he  was  startled  by  a  loud  peal  of  thunder,  and 
looking  up  saw  that  the  whole  of  the  western  sky  was 
obscured  by  a  black  angry  cloud,  which  came  rushing  on 
with  terrible  velocity.  This  was  exceedingly  annoying, 
and  the  firey  spirit  of  the  young  officer  chafed  more  than 
ever  beneath  his  restless  anxiety.  Just  what  to  do  he 
hardly  knew,  but  finally  decided  to  call  a  halt  and  allow 
the  men  to  tie  their  horses  and  protect  themselves  from 
the  on-coming  storm  in  a  large  shed-barn  which  stood 
close  to  the  road  side.  Scarcely  had  the  men  secured 
their  horses  and  taken  their  saddles  under  the  shelter 
when  the  storm  burst  upon  them  in  all  of  its  fury  The 
rain  poured  down  in  torrents.  There  seemed  to  be  a  per- 
fect cloud-burst  and  floods  of  water  fell  to  the  earth. 
Peal  after  peal  of  thunder  broke  and  rolled,  and  rent  the 
air,  while  the  flashes  of  lightning  were  fearful  to  behold. 
For  two  long  hours  the  storm  raged  with  unabated  fury, 
and  when  it  finally  subsided  it  settled  down  into  a  steady 
drizzling  rain  which  caused  the  night  to  be  so  intensely 
dark  that  it  was  impossible  to  see  your  hand  before  you. 
The  moments  were  precious,  but  what  could  Charles  do? 
He  could  lead  where  danger  felland  his  men  would  follow 
him  any  where  he  ventured  to  lead,  but  it  was  actually 
impossible  to  go  forward  in  that  night  when  he  might  not 
be  able  to  follow  the  road  for  fifty  yards. 

The  men,  less  anxious,  huddled  themselves  together  and 
some  of  them  dropped  to  sleep,  while  Charles  sat  motion- 
less and  silent  with  a  sad  heart  looking  out  into  the 
night. 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  485 

As  he  sat  there  distressing  himself  with  anxiety  for 
the  safety  and  welfare  of  those  he  loved,  he  suddenly 
felt  a  hand  laid  upon  his  shoulder  and  looking  up  as 
the  lightning  flashed,  he  saw  the  face  of  the  little hugler 
hoy  bending  over  him.  Willie  Jeter  was  the  only  son 
of  a  near  neighl^or  of  Charles,  and  when  the  troop  marched 
away  to  the  war,  he  insisted  that  he  be  allowed  to  go  as 
bugler  for  the  company ;  and  from  that  day  every  tattoo 
at  night  had  been  sounded  from  his  little  brass  horn 
and  every  rising  sun  had  been  greeted  by  the  cheerful 
notes  of  his  reveille  call.  And  when  the  battle  raged 
and  the  squadron  charged,  that  child  of  thirteen  sum- 
mers could  be  seen  with  his  yellow  hair  floating  on  the 
air,  riding  with  dauntless  courage  at  the  head  of  the 
column  blowing  his  little  bugle  with  all  his  might  to 
cheer  on  the  rushing  tide.  He  seemed  to  be  possessed 
of  a  charmed  life,  for  time  and  again  the  missiles  of  death 
had  fallen  around  him  thick  as  hailstones  from  the  cloud, 
yet  not  a  hair  of  his  head  had  been  touched.  Every 
man  in  the  regiment  had  come  to  love  him,  and  Charles 
petted  him  like  he  would  have  done  a  little  brother. 

The  little  fellow  had  been  watching  Charles  sitting 
there  so  still  and  motionless,  and  seemed  to  have  divined 
the  thoughts  that  were  passing  through  his  mind,  and, 
child-like,  being  specially  privileged,  had  come  over  to 
ofifer  consolation  and  advice.  Charles  put  his  arm  around 
the  slender  form  and  drew  him  down  beside  him. 

"This  is  a  terrible  night,  Willie,  and  this  is  most  pre- 
cious time  that  we  are  losing." 

"  That  is  so,  colonel ;  but  you  must  not  feel  so  de- 
pressed. 1  have  been  sitting  over  there  watching  your 
face  when  the  lightnings  flash,  and  I  saw  that  you  were 
sad.  I  know  what  you  are  thinking  about,  and  I  have 
been  thinking  of  what  is  best  for  us  to  do,  and  I  think, 
colonel,  I  have  it  all  clear  in  my  mind." 

"What  is  yonrplan,  niy  little  general?"  and  with  the 
question  Charles  drew  the  child  closer  to  his  side. 


486^  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE  » 

"You  are  afraid,  colonel,  that  the  Yankees  will  pass 
the  ford  at  Meechum's  river  before  we  get  there,  and  in 
that  case  they  will  be  ahead  of  us  and  do  all  sorts  of 
damage  before  we  can  overtake  them.  Now,  if  they 
come  in  by  the  turnpike  road,  they  will  go  out  by  the 
Abbey  road ;  so  if  they  have  passed  when  we  get  to  the 
ford  we  will  send  one  company  right  along  the  way  they 
came  to  the  narrow  pass  at  Rockfish  Gap  and  have  them 
blockade  the  road  and  conceal  themselves,  so  when  we 
run  them  into  the  gap  we  will  have  a  fire  in  front  of 
them,  a  fire  behind  them,  and  a  fire  all  around  them ; 
and  they  will  catch  it,  colonel,  like  the  six  hundred  did 
at  the  battle  of  Balaklava." 

"  Hurrah  for  you,  Willie !  that  is  just  what  we  will  do; 
but  see,  it  is  clearing  away  in  the  west,  j^onder,  and  the 
moon  is  beginning  to  shine  through  the  thinning  clouds. 
Blow  your  bugle,  Willie;  blow  it  strong;  rouse  up  the 
boys,  and  let's  be  marching." 

Charles  led  his  regiment  forward  as  rapidly  as  circum- 
stances would  admit,  but  despite  his  best  efibrts  they 
moved  comparatively  slowly.  The  heavy  rain  had  made 
the  road  soft  in  places  where  the  cobble  stones  of  the  old 
pike  had  became  displaced,  and  so  many  horses  passing 
in  a  body  made  it  hard  work  for  those  in  the  rear. 

So  that  it  was  full  10  o'clock  the  next  morning  before 
they  reached  Meechum's  river,  and  here  a  more  formida- 
ble and,  if  possible,  a  more  vexatious  obstacle  impeded 
their  progress,  for  the  river  which,  ordinarily,  scarcely 
deserves  the  name,  usually  fordable  almost  at  any  point, 
was  how  flooded  by  the  late  rain,  and  flowed  a  broad, 
deep,  angry  stream ;  and  what  still  further  added  to  their 
anxiety  and  augmented  their  distress  they  learned  from 
citizens  living  near  the  ford  that  a  body  of  cavalry,  sup- 
posed to  be  a  full  regiment,  had  been  seen  to  come  down 
the  old  turnpike  and  turn  into  theHardwicksville  road  at 
least  an  hour  before. 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  487 

Charles  was  completely  nonplused.  Just  how  long  that 
angry  stream  of  muddy  water  would  keep  him  there,  cut 
off  from  the  pursuit,  he  could  not  tell.  'Tis  easier  to 
imagine  his  feelings  than  to  describe  them.  There  go  the 
enemies  of  his  country  with  destructive  intent,  marching 
right  through  his  native  county  straight  for  his  home 
and  the  home  of  that  other  dearer  to  him  than  his  own 
life,  and  he  here  almost  in  sight  cut  off  by  the  cruel 
stream,  powerless  to  rush  to  the  rescue.  In  vain  he  en- 
quired as  to  other  fords,  distances  around,  and  such  like 
questions,  but  no  hope  could  he  find.  If  he  could  not 
cross  at  that  ford  there  was  no  other  ford  at  which  he 
could  cross,  and  those  who  knew  told  him  that  the  strong- 
est horse  could  not  possibly  live  in  that  seething  water  a 
single  moment.  So  there  he  stood  the  livelong  day,  now 
gazing  eagerly  off  towards  the  south,  now  looking  with 
reproachful  expression  upon  that  seething, surging,  dash- 
ing water  that  leaped  and  roared  and  rushed — a  hissing 
stream.  What  would  they  do?  Would  they  dare  in- 
trude upon  the  sanctity  of  her  presence  and  offer  her  the 
slightest  indignity  ?  The  thought  maddened  him,  and 
in  his  anger  he  ground  his  teeth  and  drew  his  sword  half 
from  the  scabbard. 

The  Charles  Reed  sitting  there  on  his  norse  was  most 
unlike  the  Charles  Reed  that  we  had  known  till  then. 
Twice  his  own  life  had  been  assailed.  This  he  could  for- 
give, had  forgiven,  and  come  to  feel  a  touch  of  pity  for 
the  wrong  the  would-be  assassin  had  done  him;  but 
when  it  came  to  be  that  other  one,  who  was  the  light  of 
his  life,  who  was  now  threatened  with  danger,  his  blood 
boiled  up  to  fever  heat  and  set  him  so  much  beside  him- 
self, he  could  have  throttled  with  his  own  hand  the  de- 
based life  of  the  vile  originator  of  this  iniquitous  raid. 

All  the  morning  he  watched  and  waited  with  restless, 
feverish  impatience,  hoping  against  hope,  that  the  swol- 
len waters  would  recede.     High  noon  came,  and  still  the 


488  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

roaring  tide  rolled  on.  Three  hours  more,  slow,  weary, 
lagging  hours,  and  still  that  muddy  stream  poured  by ; 
another  hour  passed — the  sun  now  wheeling  low  toward 
the  west,  when  lo !  horror  of  horrors,  a  dense  volume  of 
black  smoke  is  seen  to  rise  over  the  hills  towards  the 
south  and  float  away  along  the  horizon — a  thing  of  evil 
omen  to  restless,  chafing  spirits  and  anxious  hearts,  and 
as  the  evening  advanced  another  and  still  another  cloud 
of  smoke  is  seen  to  rise  and  trail  away  in  sad  procession, 
while  the  gray  of  twilight  gave  place  to  the  blush  of  shame 
that  deepened  on  the  sky  at  the  fiendish  fury  of  the  in- 
cendiary's fire. 

The  Federals  had  passed  on  to  Hardwicksville  and 
spent  the  whole  morning  in  trying  to  blow  up  the  locks 
of  the  canal ;  but  that  was  before  the  days  of  dynamite, 
and  they  found,  after  repeated  failures,  that  all  the  injury 
they  could  do  in  days  could  be  repaired  in  as  many  hours, 
so  the  destruction  of  the  canal  was  abandoned,  and  the 
raiders  turned  their  faces  towards  the  west.  In  the  en- 
tire march  from  McDowell  to  Hardwicksville,  Captain 
Green  had  not  permitted  a  single  depredation  to  be 
committed.  Ke  had  k6pt  his  command  well  together, 
and  caused  his  troops  to  march  as  orderly  as  though 
on  dress  parade ;  but  now,  that  they  were  on  the  home 
return,  the  rules  of  restriction  were  allowed  to  rattle 
loose,  and  avarice  and  selfishness,  and  appetite,  were  left 
to  their  own  guidance.  Horses,  mules  and  cattle  were 
gathered  up  indiscriminately,  and  negro  men,  women, 
boys  and  girls  were  compelled  by  threats,  or  persuaded 
by  promises  of  freedom,  to  drive  them  on  in  advance, 
while  the  soldiers  entered  the  private  dwellings,  and 
possessed  themselves  of  any  thing  they  saw,  which  de- 
sire craved,  and  convenience  would  allow  them  to  carry. 
When  they  reached  the  home  of  Dabney  Keed,  he  being 
a  chief  among  rebels,  it  was  meet  that  his  property  bo 
subjected  to  wholesale  destruction.     They  brokt  open  the 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  489 

house  and  rifled  it  of  everything  valuable  they  could 
find.  Plate  and  jewelry  and  cut-glass  were  wrapped  in 
fine  blankets,  costly  curtains  and  turkey  carpets,  and 
then  stored  away  in  wagons  and  hurried  forward  to  the 
front;  mirrors  were  broken,  and  walnut  bedsteads  hacked 
to  pieces,and  finally  a  few  gallons  of  old  wine  were  found 
in  the  cellar,  and  a  few  select  friends  held  there  a  bac- 
chanalian feast.  They  drank  "to  the  health  of  General 
Reed"  and  "to  Charles,  his  dutiful  son;"  they  drank 
until  they  were  merry — then  drank  until  they  were 
drunk — and  broke  up  the  feast  with  a  bonfire  kindled 
on  the  table  in  honor  of  the  joyful  occasion. 

The  flames  soon  spread  to  the  building  and  sent  up 
the  black  volumes  of  smoke  which  Charles  beheld  float- 
ing away  to  the  east. 

Helen  Moore,  standing  on  the  portico  at  the  Grove,  saw 
the  smoke,  and  knew  that  it  was  the  home  of  Charles 
Reed  that  was  burning.  The  news  of  the  presence  of  the 
Federal  troops  in  the  county  had  spread  like  wild-fire, 
and  that  heavy,  black  cloud  of  smoke  told  the  character 
of  the  work  they  had  come  to  perform.  We  will  not  at- 
tempt to  describe  her  feelings,  as  she  stood  there  gazing 
at  the  wreaths  of  circling  smoke  rising  in  the  air.  She 
felt  all  that  woman  could  feel  under  such  circumstances, 
and  that  was  far  more  than  words  can  portray. 

She  had  not  thought  of  her  own  safety  nor  that  of  her 
own  home,  and  her  poor  sick  father;  her  whole  soul  was 
absorbed  in  thoughts  of  that  absent  one  she  loved  so 
dearly 

As  she  stood  there  watching  the  smoke,  longing  for 
him  and  his  brave  men  to  come  and  drive  the  enemy 
away,  or  thinking  if  it  were  possible  that  she  could  go  to 
him  and  comfort  him  in  the  loss  of  his  dear  old  home, 
she  was  startled  by  a  loud  cry  from  one  of  the  servants, 
and  looking  around  saw  at  the  side-gate  a  squadron  of 
cavalry,  dressed  in  Federal  blue.     For  a  moment  the  un- 


490  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIBi. 

expected  sight  caused  Helen's  heart  to  leap  up  to  her 
throat. 

The  soldiers  dismounted  and  stood  together  a  few  min- 
utes at  the  gate,  then  several  of  them  rushed  off  towards 
the  stables,  and  the  rest  came  in  and  advanced  towards 
the  front  door.  "  Oh!  my  poor  horse," said  Helen,  **  they 
will  take  my  poor  horse,  but  surely  they  will  not  burn 
the  house  down  over  our  heads."  Then  summoning  the 
courage  which  never  wholly  forsakes  the  truly  noble  na- 
ture, she  turned,  went  down  the  steps,  and  met  the  sol- 
diers as  they  entered  the  front  porch. 

The  men  paused  when  they  saw  Helen  and  showed 
something  of  that  embarrassment  which  the  circum- 
stances would  occasion  even  to  the  roughest  nature  in  the 
presence  of  a  lady,  which  Helen  quickly  noted,  and  said, 
in  the  politest  manner  possible,  "  I  trust,  gentlemen,  you 
will  submit  to  me  your  demands  in  the  absence  of  my 
father,  who  is  sick,  and  since  we  are  powerless  to  resist, 
even  though  they  may  seem  unreasonable,  I  will  do  what 
I  can  to  satisfy  your  purpose." 

"  Is  this  Miss  Helen  Moore?"  asked  the  officer  in  com- 
mand, taking  off  his  hat  as  a  mark  of  respect. 

"  Yes,  sir ;  that  is  my  name." 

"  Then  I  fear,  ^liss  Moore,  for  me  to  obey  my  instruc- 
tions will  prove  a  most  unpleasant  duty  both  to  you  and 
myself.  I  am  commanded  by  Captain  Green,  of  the  Third 
Pennsylvania  Light  Dragoons,  to  arrest  you  and  bring 
you  before  him." 

The  hot  blood  surged  to  Helen's  face  and  indignation 
flashed  from  her  eyes,  while  her  heart  leaped  with  ex- 
citement, but  she  commanded  her  voice  enough  to  ask  • 

"  For  what  am  I  to  be  arrested  ?" 

*'  I  do  not  know." 

"  Have  you  written  instructions  ?  " 

"  Only  Captain  Green's  verbal  command." 

"  Then  you  will  not  surely  place  me  under  arrest  ?  " 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  491 

"  I  fear,  madam,  that  I  must." 

"  Where  is  Captain  Green  ?  " 

"  With  the  command  over  at  General  Reed's  place." 

Helen  stood  silent  a  moment  and  then  asked: 

"  Will  you  permit  me  to  go  in  my  own  private  carriage 
and  see  Captain  Green  ?  " 

"Most gladly,  madam,  it  will  relieve  me  of  a  most  un- 
pleasant duty,  for  I  did  not  join  the  Federal  army  to 
make  war  on  the  women  of  the  South." 

Captain  Green  had  given  special  instructions  that  every 
respect  should  be  shown  Miss  Moore,  and  that  nothing  in 
the  way  of  property  slipuld  be  disturbed  at  the  Grove, 
except  the  carriage  and  horses,  which  were  to  be  used  for 
her  comfort.  He  had  no  heart  in  this  business  of  arrest, 
for,  although  he  was  by  nature  coarse,  yet  he  was  brave, 
and  the  brave  never  enjoys  a  triumph  over  the  weak. 

Helen  had  not  the  slightest  idea  that  she  w^ould  be  car- 
ried any  farther  than  over  to  the  Abbey.  The  courteous 
manner  of  the  officer  satisfied  her  that  no  indignity 
would  be  offered  her  person,  and  since  she  had  done 
nothing  to  offend,  she  was  sure  that  she  would  soon  be 
released. 

A  number  of  the  servants  had  congregated  at  the 
gate,  and  among  them  was  the  carriage  driver.  Helen 
called  to  him  and  told  him  to  get  out  the  carriage.  She 
then  went  and  told  her  father  that  she  would  be  back  in 
a  little  while,  wrapped  her  shawl  around  her,  and  drove 
over  to  what  was  once  Melrose  Abbey — now,  alas !  only  a 
heap  of  smoking  ruins.  Her  lieart  was  deeply  lacerated 
at  the  sight  which  there  met  her  gaze,  but  she  said  noth- 
ing and  passed  on  to  the  commanding  officer.  He  apolo- 
gized for  the  cruel  necessity  which  compelled  him  to 
place  her  under  arrest,  assured  her  that  she  could  rely 
upon  his  w^ord  of  honor  that  not  the  slightest  indignity 
would  be  offered  her  while  she  was  under  his  care,  and 
ended  by  telling  her  that  he  had  good  reason  to  believe 


492  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

that  she  would  within  a  few  days  be  restored  to  her  liberty 
and  permitted  to  return  to  her  friends,  but  that  his  ex- 
plicit commands,  from  the  officers  under  whom  he  was  act- 
ing, were  to  arrest  her  and  bring  her  to  the  headquarters 
of  General  ]\Iilroy  at  McDowell. 

Oh  I  cruel,  cruel  war  1  what  wounds  didst  thou  inflict ; 
what  lacerations  of  hearts  didst  thou  occasion  ;  how  many 
lives  didst  thou  sadden;  how  many  homes  lay  low  in  cin- 
ders and  ashes ! 

No  tongue  can  tell — no  pen  portray  the  flood  of  painful, 
passionate  anguish  that  swept  over  that  poor  girl's  heart 
when  told  that  she  was  to  be  torn  from  her  home  and  taken 
away  amid  rude,  rough  men  to  the  enemy's  camp,  and 
there  made  to  suffer  God  only  knows  what.  She  sank 
down  on  the  grass  where  she  was  standing,  covered  her 
face  with  her  hands,  and  only  the  convulsions  of  distress 
which  shook  her  whole  body  could  tell  the  terrible  torture 
of  her  anguished  soul. 

Captain  Green  tried  to  comfort  her,  but  she  heard  him 
not.  He  then  told  her  maid  to  take  her  back  to  the  car- 
riage; and  as  she  was  led  away,  Captain  Green  wished 
that  William  Dodge  and  his  twenty-five  hundred  dollars 
were  twenty-five  hundred  leagues  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea. 

Captain  Green  was  one  of  those  Federal  officers  who 
believed  with  General  Hunter,  General  Sheridan  and 
General  Sherman  in  the  j^olicy  which  dictated  the  con- 
fiscation or  destruction  of  all  portable  propert}^,  whether 
public  or  private,  that  could  possibly  be  used  by  the  Con- 
federates to  help  feed,  clothe,  or  aid  their  army — a  policy 
which  may  be  justified  by  military  usage  in  a  war  waged 
for  subjugation,  but  a  policy  which  General  McClellan 
and  General  Hancock  strenuously  opposed  as  contrary  to 
the  rules  of  civilized  warfare.  So  Captain  Green,  acting 
in  accordance  with  what  he  believed  to  be  the  true  policy, 
from  no  desire  to  injure  individuals  individually,  but  ta 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  493 

weaken  the  enemy  as  a  whole,  sent  out  his  squads  and 
caused  all  sheep,  cattle,  horses  and  mules  that  could  be 
found  to  he  gathered  up,  and  all  hay,  corn,  wheat,  flour, 
and  flouring  mills  to  be  burned.  War's  black,  devasta- 
ting hand  was  laid  on  every  side  along  his  route,  and  fire 
and  smoke  and  falling  ruins  and  smouldering  ashes 
marked  his  trail. 

Helen,  faint  and  unresisting,  but  still  supported  by 
the  rectitude  of  her  conscience  and  her  high  moral 
courage,  saw  it  all  as  she  was  borne  along  in  her  carriage, 
and  her  very  heart  sickened  at  the  sight. 

The  Federal  troops  pressed  forward  with  as  much  speed 
as  the  burthens  which  they  had  gathered  up  would  permit, 
and  by  noon  of  next  day  had  entered  the  pass  which  leads 
right  into  the  Rockfish  Gap.  They  had  gone  but  a  short 
distance  in  the  pass  when,  much  to  their  surprise,  they 
found  the  road  barricaded  by  felled  trees,  old  logs  and  a  few 
heavy  rocks  rolled  down  from  the  sides  of  the  mountain, 
but  seeing  no  enemy  in  sight  concluded  the  barricade  to 
be  th^  work  of  a  few  citizens.  Knowing  that  it  would 
take  an  hour  or  more  to  remove  the  obstruction,  Captain 
Green  concluded  to  send  forward  a  body  of  men  to  cap- 
ture or  drive  off  the  citizens  and  prevent  them  from  doing 
further  mischief,  but  they  had  only  gone  forward  a  few 
hundred  yards  when  they  came  to  anotherandmuch  more 
formidable  blockade,  and  just  as  they  reached  it,  they 
heard  some  one  on  the  hill  cry  out, "  Fire !  "and  instantly 
they  were  greeted  with  a  volley  of  musketry  which  sent 
nearly  half  of  their  number  to  the  dust,  causing  the  rest  to 
retreat  in  great  confusion  back  to  the  main  bod}^  followed 
by  a  terrific  "  rebel  yell."  Captain  Green  then  decided  to 
clear  the  first  obstructions,  and  then  lead  forward  all  of 
his  men  dismounted,  but  this  delay,  though  he  knew  it 
not,  boded  him  no  good,  for  it  was  just  the  thing  the  am- 
buscade intended  to  give  their  friends  following  the  Fed- 
eral trail  time  to  come  up. 


494  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

Charles  had  allowed  himself  but  little  sleep  during 
the  night.  His  heart  was  too  full  of  anxious  care.  Con- 
tinually as  the  hours  passed  by  he  would  go  down  to  the 
banks  of  the  river  and  note  the  water.  It  began  to  fall 
just  before  midnight,  but  fell  much  too  slowly  to  satisfy  his 
restless  impatience.  He  had  been  told  that  just  above  the 
ford  there  was  a  rock  in  the  river  called  the  "Ford  Rock," 
and  as  soon  as  he  could  see  the  top  of  that  rock  it  would 
be  safe  to  cross.  All  night  he  hstd  been  watching  for  it, 
and  just  as  the  first  streaks  of  the  morning  appeared 
along  the  east,  making  it  light  enough  for  him  to  see,  he 
saw  from  the  ripple  in  the  water  that  the  "  Ford  Rock  " 
was  only  a  few  inches  beneath  the  surface.  His  impa- 
tience would  not  allow  him  to  wait  any  longer.  He  de- 
termined to  try  the  stream  at  all  hazards.  He  touched 
little  Willie  Jeter,  who  lay  wrapped  in  his  blanket  close 
to  the  smouldering  fire,  sleeping  soundly  the  sweet,  re- 
freshing sleep  of  childhood.  The  little  fellow  sprang  to 
his  feet  in  a  moment,  and  asked : 

"What  is  it.  Colonel?" 

"  Blow  your  bugle,  Willie ;  blow  'Saddle  up';  the  water 
has  fallen  enough  for  us  to  cross.  We  can't  wait  any 
longer ;  we  must  be  over  and  after  them." 

"All  right,  Colonel ; "  and  the  little  fellow  raised  his 
bugle  to  his  lips  and  blew  a  call  as  cheery  and  chipper 
and  saucy  as  ever  wound  down  through  a  valley  or 
echoed  over  a  hill,  while  the  fresh  morning  air  seemed  to 
take  up  the  cheerful  carol  of  his  bugle  and  repeat  the 
call,  "  Saddle  up !  saddle  up  your  horses,  and  we'll  catch 
them  boys  in  blue." 

Colonel  Reed,  as  soon  as  he  was  over  the  river,  acting 
upon  the  suggestion  of  little  Willie  Jeter,  detached  one 
company,  numbering  fifty  men,  and  sent  them  under  the 
command  of  Lieutenant  Allen,  direct  to  Rockfish  Gap, 
with  instructions  that  if  they  reached  the  gap  before  the 
enemy,  to  blockade  the  pass  and  check  the  Federals  aj; 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  495 

all  hazards  until  he  could  come  up  with  the  main  body 
of  the  troops.  He  then  hastened  on  in  pursuit  of  the 
raiders,  moving  forward  as  rapidly  as  circumstances 
would  admit.  When  he  reached  Hardwicksville  he  noted 
the  failure  in  the  attempt  to  destroy  the  canal,  and  said, 
as  he  hurried  on,  "  So  much  for  that."  The  citizens,  as 
he  passed  along,  told  him  how  "  the  Yankees  "  had  be- 
haved ;  yet,  so  far,  no  very  great  damage  had  been  done, 
and  he  was  comparatively  satisfied,  feeling  rather  relieved 
than  otherwise ;  but  when  he  reached  Melrose  Abbey  and 
saw  what  they  had  done  there,  his  blood  fairly  boiled 
with  indignation;  and  when  old  Aunt  Milly  told  him 
that  they  had  taken  Miss  Helen  and  carried  her  off,  as  a 
prisoner,  and  described  her  distress  when  they  put  her  in 
the  carriage,  Charles  Reed  felt  a  deep,  dark  tide  of  surg- 
ing passion  sweep  over  his  soul  that  he  had  never  known 
before  his  heart  was  capable  of  feeling.  He  was  human, 
and  learned  now,  for  the  first  time,  what  bitter,  black 
water  can  spring  up  in  the  human  heart,  and  to  what 
height  angry,  foaming  frenzy  can  rise.  He  said  but  little, 
but  the  hot  blood  that  surged  to  his  face  and  crimsoned 
his  cheeks,  together  with  the  fire  that  kindled  like  a 
burning  coal  in  his  eyes,  told  the  story  of  his  dreadful 
wrath  and  the  vengeance  that  took  shape  in  his  thoughts, 
"  Woe  unto  that  man  who  dares  to  front  me  this  day 
and  woe  unto  William  Dodge  if  he  be  found  among  that 
marauding  band."  Again  he  pressed  forward  in  hot  pur- 
suit, noting  as  he  passed  the  ruins  of  the  burnt  barns 
and  the  still  smoking  ashes  of  granaries,  each  one  of 
which  only  served  to  add  fury  to  that  fire  that  was  rag- 
ing within  his  breast. 

Charles  reached  the  entrance  to  the  gap  just  at  the 
moment  when  Captain  Green  had  completed  the  removal 
of  the  first  obstructions  and  started  forward  with  his  men 
dismounted  to  dislodge  Lieutenant  Allan. 


496  YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE. 

As  soon  as  Charles  came  in  sight  of  the  led  horses  he 
rushed  upon  them  iu  a  dashing  charge.  They  became 
stampeded  and  rushed  upon  the  driven  cattle,  which  like- 
wise took  fright,  and  the  whole  stampede  dashed  on, 
passed  the  dismounted  men  right  up  to  the  second  block- 
ade, where  they  were  stopped  and  stood  crowded  together 
in  the  road.  Luckily  for  Helen,  her  carriage,  which  was 
in  front  when  the  stampede  started,  was  swept  to  one  side 
and  turned  over  down  an  embankment,  jolting  and 
bruising  her  considerably,  but  doing  her  no  serious  harm. 
She  crawled  out  from  the  carriage  and  scrambled  up  the 
cliff  to  a  point  of  safety,  where  she  was  soon  joined  by 
her  maid  and  the  driver,  both  terribly  frightened,  but 
in  no  way  hurt. 

Captain  Green,  still  thinking  that  he  was  attacked  by 
a  small  body  of  men,  mostly  citizens,  turned  to  defend 
himself  against  the  party  making  the  attack  in  his  rear. 
Charles  saw  that  the  position  of  the  ground  would  not 
permit  him  to  fight  his  men  mounted,  so  he  ordered  the 
regiment  to  dismount,  and  gave  instructions  that  the  led 
horses  be  taken  back  to  the  field  at  the  entrance  of  the 
pass.  He  then  ordered  one  company  to  the  right  and 
one  to  the  left,  and  told  the  men  to  climb  along  the  cliffs 
and  pour  their  fire  down  on  the  enemy  from  above. 
While  the  Confederates  were  deploying  right  and  left  from 
the  rear  attack,  Lieutenant  Allen  had  advanced  his  men 
along  tlie  cliffs  to  within  easy  range  of  the  enemy.  Then 
as  the  body  of  men  which  Charles  kept  with  him  to  hold 
the  road  and  prevent  all  escape,  sent  up  a  yell  of  defi- 
ance, it  was  answered  by  a  perfect  circle  of  fire  kin- 
dled all  around  the  heads  of  the  now  almost  defenseless 
Federals.  Volley  after  volley  w^as  poured  down  from  the 
hills  upon  their  unprotected  heads,  from  army  carbines 
and  repeating  cavalry  pistols,  until  many  a  blue  coat  lay 
weltering  in  the  dust.  But  Captain  Green  was  brave  and 
determined  to  fight  to  the  last.  At  least  one-third  of  his 
men  were  already  killed  or  wounded,  but  he  still  had 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  497 

something  like  two  liuiidred  gathered  around  him,  and 
with  these  he  resolved  to  cut  his  way  through  the  rear 
attacking  party  and  reach  the  open  field.  With  this  view 
he  led  his  men  on  to  the  charge,  with  a  steady  courage  and 
splendid  gallantry  which  equalled  the  genius  of  Napo- 
leon at  the  bridge  of  Lodi  and  the  spirit  of  the  six  hundred 
at  th  e  battle  of  Balakla  va.  The  Confederates  met  that  ch  arge 
with  a  sheet  of  fire.  The  tide  of  impetuous  battle  roared 
against  the  rocks  of  determination,  and  sweeping  flames 
rolled  upon  a  wall  that  could  not  be  displaced.  Hand  to 
hand  in  terrible  conflict  they  engaged ;  wounds  and  death 
blows  are  given  and  received ;  frightful  is  the  din  of  battle 
and  fearful  the  carnage.  From  the  liills  the  fire  pours 
down  and  heaps  of  slain  lay  dressed  in  blue,  but  still 
Captain  Green  leads  on.  Carbines  and  pistols  have  been 
emptied  and  the  sabre  becomes  the  only  weapon.  Cap- 
tain Green  rushes  upon  Charles  and  sparks  of  fire  flash 
from  their  clashing  blades. 

The  smoke  rolls  away ;  Helen  sees  the  contest.  She 
recognizes  the  dauntless  hero  of  her  heart  struggling  for  her 
deliverance  Green  is  driven  back ;  his  sword  flies  from 
his  hand;  he  falls  beneath  the  terrible  sweep  of  the 
avenging  blade.  Two  Federals  leap  to  the  rescue  of  their 
captain.  Charlea  in  turn  is  struck  to  the  earth  with  a  clubbed 
carbine.  Helen  screams  and  rushes  down  the  cliff.  The 
Confederates  fly  at  the  foe  with  a  yell  of  fury.  The  Fed- 
erals give  way — the  slaughter  is  sickening.  The  victors 
see  Helen  a  vision  of  peace  among  them — astonishment 
stops  the  carnage — the  vanquished  yield. 

A  little  later  and  the  spot  where  the  battle  raged  with 
frightful  fury  is  now  still  as  death.  The  stunning  blow 
that  laid  Charles  senseless  was  not  mortal.  The  hurt 
yields  to  treatment,  to  loving  care  and  tender  caresses. 
He  opens  his  eyes  ;  his  head  is  resting  on  Helen's  breast; 
her  arms  are  pressed  around  him  ;  her  smile  is  the  light 
that  fills  his  heart,  and  her  kiss  the  reward  of  his  vabr. 
32 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 

THE  battle  of  McDowell  threw  the  authorities  at  "VVash- 
ington  into  a  perfect  fever  of  excitement,  and  spread 
consternation  wide  through  the  ranks  of  the  Federal 
army.  It  added  terror  to  Jackson's  name  and  caused  his 
opponents  to  regard  him  as  one  possessed  of  ubiquitous 
power.  To  keep  pace  with  his  movements  became  the 
absorbing  subject  of  their  thoughts.  General  Banks  was 
completely  demoralized.  He  retreated  back  to  Winches- 
ter, and  began  the  building  of  fortifications  with  all  the 
industry  of  a  novice  in  war.  He  built  them  high  and 
strong,  but  Jackson  subsequently  flanked  him  out  of  them 
and  they  profited  him  nothing. 

Jackson  liad  pursued  Milroy  some  distance  and  then 
returned  to  his  old  position  near  Elk  Run. 

William  Dodge  returned  to  Washington  disgusted,  dis- 
appointed, dispirited,  aimless,  friendless,  bopeless.  The 
utter  vanity  of  his  life  was  made  manifest;  revenge  had 
lost  its  power  to  gratify.  The  weakness  of  his  moral  na- 
ture yielded  to  the  lash  of  scourging  remorse,  without  one 
hope  of  escape ;  without  the  ability  to  amend  the  wrong ; 
without  the  strength  to  renew  the  fight.  Every  nei've 
tingled  with  pain;  every  pulsation  beat  a  mournful 
march  of  sickening  sorrow.  The  judgment  of  an  accus- 
ing conscience  was  upon  him ;  it  lashed  him  like  a  whip 
of  scorpions;  it  stung  him  like  a  nest  of  adders ;  but  the 
baseless  doctrine  of  infidelity,  to  which  he  adhered, 
pointed  out  no  hope  of  escape.  He  had  become  too  weak 
to  indulge  his  enmity,  too  lost  in  purpose  to  seek  revenge. 
His  soul  was  sick  with  loathing  of  self;  his  heart  was  a 
putrid  sore.  He  had  seen  from  the  papers  the  failure  of 
^498) 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  499 

t*he  raid ;  the  capture  of  Green  and  all  of  his  command  ; 
but  this  gave  him  neither  pleasure  nor  pain.  He  was  too 
miserable  to  feel  one  touch  of  gratification  in  anything. 
The  only  desire  that  was  left  him  was  the  desire  to  escape 
from  the  torture  of  self-abasement.  He  felt  that  if  he 
only  had  the  means  to  go  away — to  go  far,  far  away — he 
might  find  some  relief;  he  might  find  some  escape  from 
torturing  memories.  But  he  had  no  means  to  pay  his 
way ;  what  could  he  do  ? 

"  Tell  his  mother,  confess  to  her  the  humility  of  his 
heart;  no,  that  much  of  pride  was  still  left.  The  gov- 
ernment was  his  only  chance;  the  government  might  af- 
ford a  means;  it  still  was  due  him  something.  It  was  not 
his  fault  the  raid  had  failed." 

Responding  to  such  thoughts,  he  summoned  such  ease 
of  manner  as  he  could  still  command  and  called  upon 
Mr.  Cameron.  Mr.  Cameron  was  glad  to  see  him ;  Mr. 
Cameron  was  more  than  pleased  to  have  him  come  just 
at  that  time ;  Mr.  Cameron  needed  him  particularly,  and 
was  just  thinking  where  a  telegram  might  be  sent  that 
would  reach  him.  The  right  man  had  come  just  at  the 
right  time.  The  government  needed  the  services  of  the 
faithful  and  the  efficient. 

The  kind,  courteous,  complimentary  language  of  the 
Secretary  in  part  reinstated  the  dropping  spirit ;  but  that 
kindness  was  after  the  manner  of  the  invitation,  "Will 
you  walk  into  my  parlor, said  the  spider  to  the  fly?"  That 
courtesy  boded  no  good  to  the  vacillating  mind  of  the 
half-repentant  "William  Dodge. 

In  the  humble  opinion  of  this  narrator,  there  never 
was  a  heart  so  hard,  a  soul  so  depraved,  a  life  so  black,  a 
conscience  so  seared,  a  being  so  base,  but  what  still  have 
moments  of  regret  for  the  wickedness  of  the  hands,  and 
longings  for  better  things. 

Wound  the  soul,  the  body  will  sympathize;  weaken 
the  body,  the  spirit  will  cower  ;  cower  the  spirit,  and  fear 


500  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

presents  the  terrors  of  death,  and  death  drawing  nigh 
suggests  the  reckoning  at  the  judgment  bar.  Xo  man 
ever  lived  who  did  not  believe  he  had  to  render  in  some 
way  an  account  for  the  deeds  done  in  the  flesh.  William 
Dodge  was  passing  through  one  of  these  moments  of  re- 
gret. It  would  have  been  well  for  him  could  he  have 
commanded  resolution  sufficient  to  close  his  heart  against 
the  seductive  influences  of  temptation,  but  like  many  a 
poor  soul  he  was  lost  in  the  way  by  yielding  to  the  voice 
which  pleaded  "just  this  once  more."  Mr.  Cameron  told 
Mr.  Dodge  that  it  was  all  important  that  the  government 
be  kept  posted  of  the  movements  of  General  Jackson. 

"They  call  him  a  'Stonewall.'  We  find  him  a  sweep- 
ing cyclone." 

Mr.  Cameron  then,  in  the  way  of  a  closing  argument, 
laid  a  roll  of  notes  on  the  table  and  smiled  significantly, 
as  he  said : 

"This  is  to  go  where  it  will  do  the  most  good  ;  keep  us 
posted  as  to  the  'ubiquitous  bird'  for  thirty  days,  and 
there  are  ten  thousand  more  where  tliis  came  from." 

Mr.  Dodge  stood  for  one  moment  looking  down  at  the 
money — balancing  in  his  mind  right  and  wrong.  Temp- 
tation whispered — "  This  once  more."  Temptation  won. 
He  stooped,  took  up  the  notes,  placed  them  in  his  pocket, 
then  turned  and  left  the  room. 

Many  a  poor  heart  has  been  tempted  thus ;  many  a 
poor  soul  has  been  swept  over  the  breakers  by  staying  to 
yield  "just  this  once  more." 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 

IN  a  few  days  Charles  Reed  was  himself  again.  His 
head  was  still  sore,  but  his  heart  was  glad.  The  regret 
which  he  felt  occasioned  by  the  burning  of  his  home  was 
lost  in  the  joy  which  filled  his  heart  in  contemplating 
the  rescue  of  Helen.  Since  she  was  safe  it  mattered  little 
that  a  house  had  been  burned  ;  that  could  soon  be  rebuilt 
and  all  be  as  before. 

The  prisoners  taken  were  sent  at  once  to  Richmond. 
Their  wounded  were  carried  to  Lovingston,  where  they 
were  properly  cared  for.  Charles  ordered  the  regiment 
to  report  to  General  Jackson  in  the  Valley.  He  remained 
a  few  days  at  the  Grove  to  recover  from  the  effects  of  his 
hurt.  Captain  Green  was  most  painfully,  but  not  mor- 
tally wounded.  One  or  two  bullets  had  cut  his  flesh 
slightly,  but  the  main  wound  was  a  sabre  cut  across  the 
head  and  along  the  cheek,  laying  the  flesh  open  in  a 
frightful  gash.  Charles  had  determined  to  turn  him  over 
to  the  civil  authoritiss  to  be  tried  for  abduction,  but  when 
Helen  told  him  of  the  courteous  language  in  which  Cap- 
tain Green  and  the  other  officers  had  addressed  her, 
Charles  concluded  to  ride  over  and  see  Captain  Green, 
and  to  hear  what  explanation  he  could  offer  for  his  con- 
duct. 

Captain  Green,  as  may  well  be  imagined,  felt  no  pride 
in  the  part  he  had  acted  in  the  affair,  and  was  now  more 
than  ready  to  make  reparation  as  far  as  it  lay  in  his 
power.  He  made  a  clean  breast  of  the  whole  matter 
without  trying  to  exculpate  himself.  Simply  said  by  way 
of  palliation  that  he  did  not  realize  what  it  was  for  which 
he  took  the  money  until  it  was  too  late.  He  then  handed 
(501) 


502  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

Charles  the  written  instructions  and  the  roll  of  money- 
just  as  he  had  received  it,  saying,  as  he  did  so,  "That  he 
was  fully  persuaded  from  what  Mr.  Dodge  had  stated  that 
Mr.  Cameron  was  not  aware  of  the  design  against  Miss 
Moore." 

"  Then,  Captain  Green,"  said  Charles,  "I  will  ask  you 
one  question ;  answer  it  truthfully  if  you  desire  the  least 
consideration  at  my  hands.  What  was  the  purpose  of 
William  Dodge  in  seeking  to  place  Miss  Moore  under  ar- 
rest ?  " 

"As  I  have  hope  of  your  pardon,  Colonel  Reed,  I  be- 
lieve from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  it  was  a  deep,  bitter 
hatred  of  you — that,  and  nothing  more.  He  sought  to 
wound  you  to  the  heart, and  lie  thought  the  deepest  wound 
that  you  could  receive  would  be  through  your  affections." 

"AVhy  does  he  hate  me? 

"  I  do  not  know.  He  only  said  that  you  had  foiled  him 
in  everything,  and  that  he  had  sworn  revenge.  This  is 
all  that  I  know.     I  never  saw  him  but  the  once." 

Charles  turned  and  looked  out  through  the  window. 
The  expression  of  his  face  was  serious,  but  not  painfully 
sad.  It  was  a  relief  to  know  that  no  darker  design  was 
intended  towards  Helen,  and  now  that  he  knewtlie  cause 
he  was  still  willing  to  try  to  forgive  that  most  unreasona- 
ble enmity,  though  he  could  not  understand  why  it  should 
be  so  bitter. 

After  a  moment  Charles  turned  back  to  the  bedside  and 
said : 

"Captain  Green,  I  will  keep  these  papers,  the  money 
you  can  retain ;  you  will  be  paroled  with  the  rest  of  the 
wounded  prisoners  and  allowed  to  return  North  as  soon  as 
your  hurt  will  permit  your  removal." 

"  Thank  you,  Colonel  Reed,"  replied  the  wounded  man 
feelingly.  "  I  do  not  deserve  so  much  forbearance,  but  I 
am  grateful  to  you  for  your  leniency  and  shall  endeavor  to 
profit  by  your  example.     I  do  not  wish  the  money  back ; 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 


503 


please  keep  it,  and  if  you  are  unwilling  to  use  it  to  help 
rebuild  your  own  home  then  give  it  to  some  more  humble 
person  who  has  suffered  by  my  command." 

Charles  Reed  took  the  hand  of  the  Federal  soldier  and 
pressed  it  warmly,  then  turned  away,  both  yo"ung  men 
feeling  glad  that  the  life  blood  of  the  other  was  not  upon 
their  respective  hands. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII, 

CHARLES  remained  at  the  Grove  a  few  da3's  basking  in 
the  light  of  love  and  the  sunshine  of  approval.  The 
country  was  elated  at  the  victory  of  Jackson  at  McDowell. 
The  county  was  jubilant  over  the  splendid  achievement 
of  its  favorite  soldier  at  Rockfish  Gap.  Cliarles  was  a 
hero  and  Helen  Moore  had  become  a  heroine.  Friends 
flocked  to  see  them  and  casual  acquaintances  came  miles 
just  to  shake  their  hands.  The  spirits  of  Colonel  Moore 
seem  to  rally  under  the  excitement,  and  gratified  pride 
was  added  to  the  great  love  he  cherished  for  his  children. 

Standing  together  in  the  parlor  the  evening  before  the 
day  fixed  for  Charles  to  return  to  the  army,  Colonel 
Moore  reminded  Helen  of  her  promise.  She  blushed, 
looked  down,  and  then  looked  up  at  Charles.  He  noted 
her  embarrassment — took  both  her  hands  in  his,  and 
asked  feelingly  ; 

"  What  promise,  Helen?  " 

She  hesitated  a  moment  and  then  said  timidly: 

"Papa  thinks  it  would  add  to  his  satisfaction  if  we 
were — "  she  stopped.  The  color  deepened  on  her  cheeks; 
modesty  finished  the  sentence. 

Charles  pressed  her  hands  warmly  and  then  said  with 
a  voice  full  of  feeling: 

"And  to  mine,  too,  sweetest — a  thousand  satisfactions 
it  would  add  to  my  happiness  if  we  were  married." 

Helen  smiled  and  said,  half  shyly,  half  coquettishly — 
all  seriously:  "I  belong  to  you  in  heart — I  am  willing; 
and  for  your  late  gallantry  I  will  let  you  name  the  day." 

"  That  is  your  prerogative,  sweetest ;  don't  allow  me  to 
become  an  usurper." 

(504) 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 


505 


"Then let's  compromise, and  make  our  dearfatner  um- 
pire, and  let  him  name  the  day,"  and  as  she  concluded  they 
each  took  a  hand  of  Colonel  Moore  and  joined  a  perfect 
circle  of  loving  hearts. 

Colonel  Moore  raised  their  hands  and  clasped  them 
firmly  together  in  his,  and  said :  "  May  you  ever  love  each 
other  as  I  love  you  both.  I  will  name  the  10th  of  Feb- 
ruary as  your  bridal  day." 

Ten  days  or  more  had  passed  since  the  battle  of  ^Ic- 
Dowell.  Jackson  was  back  in  his  old  camp  at  Elk  Run. 
McClellan  was  inching  up  closer  and  closer  to  Richmond. 
General  McDowell  was  marshaling  a  host  at  Fredericks- 
burg. The  Confederate  capital  was  menaced  on  two 
sides.  Jackson  is  instructed  :  "  Keep  Banks  in  the  Valley ; 
don't  allow  him  to  reinforce  McDowell  and  take  Rich- 
mond in  the  rear."  Milroy,  once  on  the  retreat,  saw  a 
rebel  behind  every  rock  and  found  it  hard  to  select  a  good 
place  to  stop.  Banks  is  safe  in  his  high  fortifications  near 
Winchester.  Charles  has  returned  to  the  army  and  is 
out  with  his  regiment  at  the  front.  The  genius  of  Jack- 
son is  at  work  meditating  as  to  what  is  best  to  be  done. 
Silently  and  all  alone  he  sits  in  his  tent,  his  elbow  resting 
on  the  table,  his  eyes  shaded  by  his  hand.  A  shadow 
falls  on  tlie  floor  at  his  side.  He  looks  up  and  General 
Reed  enters,  accompanied  by  a  young  man  handsomely 
dressed  in  Confederate  gray. 

"  Captain  Dodge,  General  Jackson — allow  me  to  intro- 
duce you." 

"Captain  Dodge,  formerly  of  your  staff.  General  Reed?'' 

"  Yes,  sir — volunteer  aid  de  camp.  Captain  Dodge  is 
from  Washington.  He  said  he  thought  he  could  do 
something  for  our  cause  in  the  way  of  recruiting  over  in 
Maryland,  but  he  jeports  that  "  My  Maryland  "  does  not 
seem  much  inclined  to  rally  to  the  call." 

"Be  seated,  gentlemen.  Perhaps  j'ou  can  give  us  some 
information,  Captain  Dodge,  as  to  what  is  going  on  in  the 


enemy's  camp." 


506  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

"Not  much,  General — nothing  from  personal  knowl- 
edge, but  I  did  hear  that  General  Banks  has  a  strong  army 
of  36,000  near  Winchester,  and  that  the  indications  were 
that  he  proposed  to  advance  this  way  up  the  Valley." 

General  Jackson's  eyes  sparkled  for  one  moment  with  a 
secret  gratification,  and  then  he  smiled  and  said: 

"  That  might  be  inconvenient  to  me.  However,  we  will 
try  to  make  him  comfortable  should  he  come.  But, 
changing  the  subject.  Captain  Dodge,  do  you  propose  to 
stay  with  us  and  share  our  fortune?  " 

"  Yes,  sir ;  if  my  services  are  acceptable." 

"  Do  you  wish  to  enlist  in  the  line,  or  had  you  rather 
prefer  staff  duty  ?  " 

"  I  would  much  prefer  the  staff,  at  least  until  I  am 
more  restored  from  my  late  sickness." 

"  Can  General  Reed  still  give  you  a  position  on  his 
staff?"  General  Reed,  who  had  passed  behind  Mr.  Dodge's 
chair,  gave  General  Jackson  an  imploring  look.  Then, 
before  Mr.  Dodge  could  reply,  General  Jackson  said,  "  But 
I  am  afraid  not ;  his  staff  is  already  full ;  besides,  I  am 
thinking  of  sending  General  Reed  on  a  special  mission; 
however,  we  will  see ;  we  will  see."  The  General  was 
silent  for  a  moment,  then  continuing,  said: 

"  I  can't  give  yo\i  a  position  on  my  staff,  but  if  you  are 
so  disposed  you  can  remain  here  at  my  headquarters 
until  some  arrangement  is  made  forj'ou." 

"  Thank  you,  General ;  in  the  meantime  I  shall  be  glad 
to  serve  you  in  any  way  I  can,"  replied  the  smooth-faced 
William  Dodge. 

General  Jackson  then  turned  to  General  Reed  and  said, 
"I  want  you  to  take  a  walk  with  me.  Captain  Dodge 
will  make  himself  comfortable  until  we  return." 

The  two  officers  then  left  the  tent,  and  after  a  quiet 
stroll  around  the  camp.  General  Reed  went  back  to  his 
own  headquarters. 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  507 

The  next  morning  General  Jackson  saw  Mr.  Dodge 
standing  near  his  tent.  He  stepped  to  tlie  door  and 
called  him,  and  Mr.  Dodge  entered  the  tent.  General 
Jackson  was  looking  over  a  paper  when  Mr.  Dodge  went 
in,  but  turned  after  a  moment,  and  asked,  "  Captain 
Dodge,  would  you  mind  writing  a  little  for  me?" 

"  No,  sir;  I  shall  be  glad  to  serve  you." 

"You  can  keep  a  secret,  Captain  Dodge?" 

"  Yes,  sir. 

"  Then  write  to  my  dictation?" 

Three  long  letters  were  written;  one  addressed  to  Gen- 
eral Edward  Johnson,  at  McDowell ;  one  to  General 
Ewell,  at  Culpeper  Courthouse;  and  the  other  to  Gen- 
eral S.  Cooper,  Secretary  of  War,  Richmond. 

General  Jackson  said,  "  Captain  Dodge,  I  want  you  to 
take  these  three  letters  to  the  headquarters  of  General 
Ashby,  and  you  yourself  place  them  in  his  hand.  Under 
no  consideration  must  you  for  one  moment  entrust  them 
to  any  third  person," 

General  Jackson  then  added,  "  I  shall  not  need  you 
this  afternoon.  I  want  to  be  left  alone.  If  you  have 
any  matters  you  wish  to  look  after,  you  can  do  so." 

The  moment  Mr.  Dodge  left  the  tent,  General  Jackson 
called  one  of  his  most  trusted  couriers,  and  said,  "Take 
this  letter  to  General  Ashby — give  it  to  him  in  person." 

The  letter  sent  by  the  courier  was  only  a  note  written 
in  General  Jackson's  own  handwriting.     It  simply  said: 

"  Burn  the  three  letters  sent  you  by  Captain  Dodge. 
Pretend  to  send  off  a  dispatch.     Let  no  one  know  that 
you  destroy  the  letters.     It  is  a  ruse. 
"  Yours,  &c., 

"T.  J.  Jackson." 

As  Mr.  Dodge  rode  along  on  his  way  to  the  headquar- 
ters of  General  Ashby,  he  counted  himself,  for  this  one 
time  at  least,  a  lucky  man.     He  was  in  possession  of  in- 


608  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

formation  most  desirable  at  Washington.  The  words  of 
the  Secretary  kept  running  through  his  mind,  "  Ten 
thousand  more  where  this  came  from,"  and  bright  visions 
of  future  ease  and  prosperity  dawned  upon  his  imagina- 
tion. "  To-night  I  will  send  the  dispatch — the  only  one 
I  shall  ever  have  any  occasion  to  send.  I  will  get  the 
ten  thousand — then,  ho !  for  Europe,  and  farewell  to  the 
scenes  of  painful  recollections  ! " 

A  little  later  that  day  and  Mr.  Dodge  had  written  a 
letter  in  cipher,  addressed  to  General  Banks,  at  Winches- 
ter, which,  when  interpreted,  said  :  "General  Jackson  will 
cross  the  Blue  Ridge  mountains  to-morrow  night  with  his 
entire  command;  make  a  forced  march  to  Culpeper  Court- 
house, where  he  will  form  a  junction  with  General  Ewell; 
they  will  then  march  to  Spotsylvania  Court-house  and 
there  form  a  junction  wdth  forces  to  be  sent  up  by  rail  from 
Richmond — fall  upon,  defeat  and  possibly  capture  General 
McDowell  at  Fredericksburg — if  so,  sweep  on  and  take 
Washington.  Edward  Johnson  is  to  fall  back  and  pro- 
tect Staunton  against  you." 

That  afternoon  IMr.  Dodge  mounted  his  horse  and  took 
the  above  letter  to  the  residence  of  one  Simon  Swatz,  a 
so-called  Union  man,  who  was  willing  for  a  valuable  con- 
sideration to  be  the  conduit  through  which  contraband 
communications  might  pass  between  Union-loving  pa- 
triots of  the  North  and  friendly  allies  in  the  South. 
Swatz  received  the  letter,  not  failing  to  exact  the  postage 
due  thereon  to  the  "  grape-vine  "  mail  department,  and 
at  the  same  time  handed  Mr.  Dodge  a  package  post- 
marked Washington,  D.  C,  with  the  business  card  of 
Brown  &  Brown,  attorneys-at-law,  printed  in  the  corner. 
My.  Dodge  put  the  package  in  his  pocket,  thinking  it 
more  than  likely  that  it  was  nothing  more  than  a  letter 
calling  in  the  loan  which  he  had  had  Brown  &  Brown 
negotiate  for  him  some  time  before.  He  then  took  a  cir- 
cuitous route  and  returned  to  the  camp,  but  as  the  sun 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  509 

was  still  high  in  the  West  and  the  air  pleasant,  he  con- 
cluded to  take  a  walk.  He  strolled  along  the  banks  of 
the  Elk  Run  until  he  came  to  an  old  mill  dam,  still 
standing  across  the  stream.  The  mill  was  gone — washed 
away  years  ago,  but  the  dam  was  there,  resisting  the  flow 
of  tide  and  time.  The  late  heavy  rains  had  caused  the 
stream  to  be  considerably  swollen,  and  what  was  ordi- 
narily only  a  mountain  run,  now  rushed  down  quite  a 
body  of  water.  As  Mr.  Dodge  drew  near  the  dam  he 
noticed  quite  a  number  of  saw  logs  which  seem  to  have 
gotten  away  somewhere  above,  and  now  came  floating 
down  the  stream.  They  floated  on  quietly  enough  until 
they  ai)proached  the  dam,  then  the  swift  current  caught 
them,  and  they  were  dashed  over  the  dam  with  terrible 
force,  and  there  rolled  and  tossed  and  pitched  and  piled 
in  the  most  fearful  manner.  The  water  was  boiling  and 
seething  and  surging  and  roaring  and  hissing  and  break- 
ing in  mad  circles,  that  seem  to  beat  itself  into  foam  in 
its  fury,  while  the  logs  seemed  to  resemble  animate  things 
struggling  to  escape.  They  would  rise  on  end  and  make 
desperate  leaps  as  though  to  free  themselves  from  the 
clutches  of  the  current,  but  the  water  would  seize  them 
and  dash  them  back  upon  each  other,  causing  them  to 
inflict  terrible  blows  from  which  they  seem  to  writhe  with 
pain. 

Mr.  Dodge  stood  and  watched  them  for  quite  a  while 
in  silence,  and  then,  half-sighing,  said,  "  They  seem  to 
be  tormented  souls;"  and  just  as  the  thought  passed 
through  his  mind,  and  found  expression  in  low-whispered 
words,  he  felt  a  cold  chill  creep  over  his  limbs,  which 
seem  to  stop  at  his  heart,  and  a  strange  indefinable  fear 
took  possession  of  him — a  feeling  of  dread  uneasiness 
and  anxiety — something  akin  to  a  presentiment,  which 
made  him  feel  that  danger  was  fast  approaching.  Then 
the  unwelcome  words  rushed  to  his  lips,  and  he  said,  half 
aloud,  "What  if  I  am  detected?"     At  the  thought  his 


510  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

hair  rose  up  on  end — his  lips  trembled,  and  his  knees 
smote  together  and  would  scarcely  sustain  him.  Then  a 
cold,  clammy  sweat  came  over  him,  and  he  would  have 
fallen  had  he  not  leaned  against  a  rock  for  support.  How 
long  he  remained  therehe  could  not  tell, for  the  moments 
seemed  to  stretch  into  hours.  At  length  he  tried  to  sum- 
mon resolution  to  return  to  camp;  but  just  as  he  made 
the  effort  to  struggle  up,  he  caught  the  eye  of  a  soldier 
watching  him  eagerly.  He  sank  back  with  fright,  and, 
for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  William  Dodge  had  fainted. 

"The grape-vine  postal  department"  did  its  work  well. 
Mr.  Swatz  knew  the  mountain  paths  like  as  the  wild  ani- 
mals knew  their  native  hills.  By  sunrise  the  next  morn- 
ing Mr.  Dodge's  letter  had  been  duly  delivered  to  General 
Banks,  and  its  contents  occasioned  that  gallant  officer 
much  trepidation.  The  words  of  the  dispatch  were  im- 
mediately telegraphed  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  and,  for 
a  little  while,  the  wires  were  kept  trembling  with  the 
messages  flashing  to  and  fro. 

Charles  Eeed  was  scouting  close  up  to  the  enemy's  line, 
and  from  an  elevated  position  observed  the  great  commo- 
tion in  the  Federal  camp,  but  could  not  divine  the  cause. 
When  the  sun  was  about  an  hour  high,  he  sent  a  courier 
to  General  Jackson  with  a  dispatch,  saying,  "  Much  ex- 
citement in  the  enemy's  camp;  some  move  on  hand,  but 
do  not  know  what;  will  send  another  disjKatch,  if  any 
developments."  An  hour  later,  and  a  second  courier 
was  started  with  another  message,  saying,  "  About  one- 
half  of  Banks's  arm}^  are  under  arms,  and  marching  rap- 
idly towards  Snicker's  Gap;  possibly  on  their  way  to 
Manassas,  or  Fredericksburg." 

When  General  Jackson  received  the  first  dispatch  sent 
by  Charles,  he  ordered  the  men  under  arms,  and  held 
them  ready  to  move  at  a  moment's  notice.  When  the 
second  messenger  arrived,  the  eyes  of  the  old  hero  fairly 
danced  with  delight.     He  issued  an  order  and  had  it 


YANKEE    DOODLK    DTXIE.  611 

read  to  his  troops.  It  said,  "Soldiers:  General  Banks 
has  been  deceived,  and  has  blundered  the  second  time. 
He  has  divided  his  army  and  sent  one-half  over  the 
Blue  Ridge  to  look  for  me.  I  want  you  to  step  out  like 
men  and  fall  upon  the  army  that  is  left  behind,  and 
sweep  them  from  the  Valley." 

They  answered  that  call  with  a  yell,  and  many  a  lad 
laughed  and  replied,  "  Jackson's  foot  cavalry  is  ready." 

When  Mr.  Dodge  came  to  himself  he  was  lying  on  a 
straw  mattress  under  a  large  wall-tent,  and  he  was  well 
covered  with  blankets,  while  the  tent  was  made  comfort- 
able by  a  small  camp  stove.  It  was  broad  day,  and  the 
sun  which  had  just  risen  was  shining  in  through  the 
half-open  door.  The  same  soldier  who  had  so  frightened 
Mr.  Dodge  the  evening  before,  was  sitting  on  a  box  near 
the  stove,  his  sabre  lying  across  his  lap,  while  he  seemed 
to  be  deeply  absorbed  in  the  mysteries  of  a  paper-back 
novel.  On  the  other  side  of  the  tent  were  three  more 
soldiers  sitting  on  a  blanket  spread  down  on  a  pallet  of 
straw,  laughing  and  jesting  as  they  amused  themselves 
playing  draw  poker  for  grains  of  coffee.  Mr.  Dodge  felt 
bewildered,  and  at  first  could  not  imagine  what  had  be- 
fallen him,  but  little  by  little  the  circumstances  of  the 
last  evening  came  back  to  his  mind  and  he  shuddered  as 
he  looked  at  the  face  of  the  soldier  reading  the  novel. 

At  length  the  soldier  looked  up  and  seeing  that  Mr, 
Dodge  was  awake,  passed  over  to  the  pallet  and  stooping 
down,  asked, 

"  How  are  you  this  morning  ?  " 

"  I  hardly  know ;  I  am  so  weak  and  nervous  and  feel 
so  strangely.  Where  am  I,  and  what  has  happened  to 
me?" 

"  You  are  at  General  Jackson's  headquarters  ;  you  had 
a  fainting  spell  yesterday  evening,  and  have  been  sleep- 
ing all  night.  The  doctor  told  me  to  give  you  a  drink  of 
brandy  when  you  awoke ;  so  take  this,  you  will  soon  be 
better." 


512  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

Mr.  Dodge  dmnk  the  brandy  and  then  lay  back  on  the 
pallet,  feeling  heaven  only  knows  what — something  of 
fear,  something  of  dread,  something  of  nervousness,  some- 
thing of  regret,  something  of  pain,  something  of  remorse. 
His  heart  seemed  to  have  moved  up  into  his  throat ;  a 
heavy  weight  "was  pressing  down  upon  his  chest;  his 
limbs  were  stiff  and  weak,  a  tingling  sensation  ran  over 
his  body,  while  cold  clammy  beads  of  perspiration  stood 
thick  upon  his  brow  and  hysteric  tears  gathered  in  his 
eyes. 

He  had  had  a  fearful  dream.  He  thought  he  was  stand- 
ing on  the  banks  of  the  river  watching  the  swollen  water 
and  the  tormented  logs  just  as  he  had  done  the  evening  be- 
fore, when  all  at  once  he  felt  the  hangman's  noose  tighten 
around  his  neck,  and  as  he  choked  to  death  he  saw  that 
stream  of  water  turn  to  a  stream  of  molten  brass  and 
those  tormented  logs  became  doomed  spirits  writhing  in 
agony  and  pain ;  and  while  he  struggled  for  life  he  saw 
a  shapeless  thing,  neither  man  nor  beast,  rise  up  from  out 
that  hissing  stream  breathing  smoke  and  fire,  and  with  a 
horrid  laugh  lay  hands  aipon  his  withering  soul  and  drag 
him  down  and  cast  him  among  those  tormented  souls, 
and  as  the  wicked  deeds  of  his  life  flashed  through  his 
mind  the  day  he  was  so  near  drowned,  so  again  his  evil 
deeds  all  rose  horrid  before  him  to  evidence  the  justness 
of  his  doom,  and  he  thought  that  as  his  soul  was  swept 
from  life  to  death,  from  wicked  acts  to  haunted  hell,  he 
was  permitted  to  catch  one  fleeting  glimpse  of  the  joys 
of  heaven  and  the  unspeakable  glory  of  the  great  Jehovah, 
while  the  voice  of  the  watchman  rang  in  his  ears :  "Eter- 
nity to  the  doomed  and  damned !" 

The  day  passed  on,  the  soldier  quietly  read  his  novel, 
his  three  comrades  finished  their  game  of  poker  and 
lounged  in  the  sunshine  outside  the  tent.  As  the  after- 
noon came  on,  IMr.  Dodge  heard  loud  cheering,  and  sum- 
moned resolution  to  ask  the  soldiers  what  it  meant. 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  513 

"  The  troops  are  starting  on  a  march." 

"  Where  are  they  going  ?  " 

The  soldier  shook  his  head,  smiled  and  said:  "Nobody 
knows  but  General  Jackson." 

Mr.  Dodge  then  laid  his  hand  over  his  eyes — think- 
ing— thinking — thinking.  That  cheering,  he  thought, 
was  a  good  omen  to  him ;  nothing  had  been  discovered. 
Jackson  was  about  to  start  on  his  proposed  expedition. 
Mr.  Dodge  felt  relieved ;  and  oh !  what  a  relief  it  was ; 
but  alas !  hope  is  so  deceptive. 

He  lay  for  a  little  while  listening  to  the  cheering  now 
growing  fainter  and  fainter  as  the  troops  marched  away. 
Then  his  reverie  was  broken,  and  the  soldier  asked: 
''  Would  you  like  to  have  something  to  eat  ?'' 

"Thank  you — a  cud  of  coffee  and  a  cracker,  if  you 
have  it  convenient.'* 

The  coffee  and  cracker  was  gotten'  and  enjoyed  with 
some  relish,  and  then  Mr.  Dodge  lay  down  again  feeling 
less  nervous  and  more  contented. 

The  soldier  again  betook  himself  to  his  novel,  and  Mr. 
Dodgelaytherethinking,indulgingthedelusionsofhope — 
in  dreams  realizing  the  ten  thousand  in  possession,  and 
then  the  luxuries  of  a  foreign  home.  By  and  by  he  turned 
his  head,  and  saw  sticking  from  the  breast  pocket  of  his 
coat,  which  lay  on  a  box  just  at  his  head,  the  pack- 
age which  he  had  received  from  Mr.  Swatz.  Mechani- 
cally he  put  out  his  hand  and  took  the  package.  He 
broke  the  seal  and  began  to  read.  As  he  read  his  face  first 
flushed,  and  then  grew  deathly  pale;  then  he  started  up 
in  wild  excitement;  he  wrung  his  hands;  he  tore  his 
hair ;  he  beat  his  breast ;  he  wept  and  groaned,  and  rolled 
from  side  to  side,  moaning  as  he  tossed,  almost  in  frenzy. 
"  Oh !  that  I  had  known."  "  Oh !  that  I  had  known  who 
I  am,  and  what  she  is  to  me."  "  Oh  I  to  think — to  think, 
my  own  fiither's  blood  flowing  through  her  veins,  and  I 
have  damned  my  own  soul  seeking  her  destruction." 
33 


514  YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE. 

The  soldier  sprang  to  the  bed  side  and  tried  to  pacify 
the  sufferer,  but  his  efforts  were  vain.  Mr.  Dodge  beat 
him  off,  exclaiming,  as  he  tossed  and  rolled  and  wept, 
"  Kill  me ;  oh  !  kill  me,  if  you  have  any  mercy.  Kill  me, 
for  I  am  not  fit  to  live." 

The  soldier  frightened  at  the  demented  frenzy  of  the 
sick  man,  believing  he  was  taken  with  a  fit,  ran  for  a  sur- 
geon. When  he  got  back  Mr.  Dodge  was  gone — gone 
without  coat,  hat  or  boots — leaving  the  letter  from  Brown 
&  Brown  lying  open  on  the  bed. 


/r:^ 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

AT  the  very  moment  that  General  Jackson  turned  back 
from  his  pursuit  after  Milroy,  General  Banks  was 
hurrying  a  detachment  from  his  army  to  protect  the  de- 
feated Federals.  He  was  now  hurrying  a  much  larger  de- 
tachment over  the  Blue  Ridge  to  General  McDowell,  to 
save  that  army  from  the  clutches  of  the  terrible  Jackson, 
while  at  the  same  time  Jackson  himself,  and  his  "  foot 
cavalry,"  were  galloping  down  the  Valley  in  search  of 
General  Banks,  whose  army  of  36,000  was  now  reduced 
to  18,000. 

And  again,  at  the  very  moment  that  the  Federals,  un- 
der the  command  of  Generals  Shields  and  Kimball,  were 
toiling  over  the  mountains  at  Snicker's  Gap,  on  their  way 
to  aid  General  McDowell,  General  Ewell  was  climbing  the 
hills  at  Chester's  Gap,  on  his  way  from  Culpeper,  to  join 
General  Jackson  at  Luray.  The  Confederate  soldiers  un- 
derstood the  situation  and  were  full  of  spirit,  and  swung 
along  M'ith  a  rapid  stride.  By  the  early  morn,  next  day, 
the  junction  of  Ewell  and  Jackson  was  made,  and  the 
march  continued  down  the  Valley.  Jackson  determined 
to  diverge  from  the  main  road,  in  order  to  avoid  attack- 
ing General  Banks,  in  his  strong  fortifications.  He,  there- 
fore, turned  aside  into  a  rugged  pathway,  across  the  hills, 
which  led  them  into  another  road  descending  from  the 
mountains,  which  road  entered  the  main  turnpike  at  a 
point  fairly  on  General  Banks's  right  flank.  Charles  Heed 
had  drawn  such  a  cordon  of  pickets  around  the  enemy's 
camp.  Banks  was  unable  to  get  the  slightest  information 
of  Jackson's  approach.  The  surprise  of  the  Federals 
was  complete,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  first  intimation 

(315) 


616  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

they  had  of  the  presence  of  a  hostile  army  was  the  vol- 
ley fired  by  Jackson  into  their  picket,  just  a  mile  from 
their  camp.  Banks  made  hut  little  effort  to  defend  his 
position.  He  saw  the  hills  swarming  with  the  Confeder- 
ate troops,  and  moving  forward  steadily  to  the  attack. 
He  saw  that  he  had  been  deceived,  and  that  Jackson,  with 
his  whole  army,  and  that  of  Ewell  also,  was  upon  him. 
All  prudence  gave  way  to  fear ;  he  set  fire  to  his  camp, 
and  ordered  a  hasty  retreat — the  very  worst  thing  he 
could  possibly  have  done, for  an  army  that  feels  whipped 
before  it  fights  is  easily  routed.  Banks  became  frightened, 
and  his  army  soon  became  demoralized.  The  Confeder- 
ates saw  the  Federals  start  on  the  run,  and  every  gray 
jacket  became  a  hero.  They,  yelling  like  demons,  rushed 
upon  the  retreating  lines  and  poured  volley  after  volley 
into  their  broken  columns.  Who  will  not  fight  when  the 
foe  flies?  Who  can  stop  a  stampede  when  it  is  once 
started  ?  The  Confederate  artillery  galloped  to  the  top  of 
the  hill,  which  the  Federals  gave  up,  and  poured  round 
after  round  of  grape  and  canister  into  the  frightened 
fugitives.  The  retreat  soon  became  a  stampede,  and  to 
escape  was  all  that  the  demoralized  Federals  attempted. 
They  threw  down  their  arms  and  made  for  the  Potomac 
with  all  their  might,  while  the  Confederate  cavalry 
charged  upon  the  defenseless  masses,  sabreing  down 
many  and  capturing  great  numbers. 

General  Jackson  continued  the  pursuit  on  to  Harper's 
Ferry,  at  which  point  Banks  escaped  with  the  remnant  of 
his  army  over  the  river  into  Maryland.  The  victorious 
Confederates  then  gathered  up  the  spoils  and  started  back 
up  the  Valley.  When  General  Banks  began  his  retreat  he 
signalled  General  Shields  to  return  and  lend  him  aid. 
General  Shields,  not  knowing  the  extent  of  the  defeat 
which  Banks  had  sustained  recrossed  the  Blue  Ridge  to 
Port  Republic,  immediately  in  Jackson's  rear,  where  Jack- 
son returning  up  the  Valley  found  him,  and  swept  his 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  517 

little  army  almost  out  of  existence,  thus  completing  that 
splendid  Valley  campaign,  which  so  astonished  the  world 
and  rendered  the  name  of  Stonewall  Jackson  immortal. 
The  Federals  in  the  aggregate  had  not  less  than  50,000 
troops  ;  Jackson  had  but  little  over  one-fourth  of  that 
number.  He  sprang  up  out  of  the  ground  as  it  were  and 
pounced  on  Shields  at  Kernstown,  when  Banks  left  him 
to  go  to  McClellan  at  Manassas.  Banks  returned  to 
watch  the  daring  rebel,  but  he  watched  so  badly  Jackson 
slipped  away  from  before  him  and  almost  destroyed  Mil- 
roy  at  McDowell  before  Banks  dreamed  that  the  Confed- 
erate army  was  gone.  He  allowed  Mr.  Dodge  to  send  a 
letter  which  induced  General  Banks  to  divide  his  army, 
then  rushed  upon  these  divided  forces,  and  almost  de- 
stroyed them  in  detail.  He  killed  and  captured  more  of 
the  enemy  than  he  had  of  troops  all  told,  and  then  while 
they  were  collecting  their  scattered  forces  and  the  Federal 
Government  was  hurrying  men  to  Harper's  Ferry  to  keep 
him  out  of  Washington,  he  stole  his  third  march  upon 
them,  and  swept,  almost  with  the  swiftness  of  a  bird, 
from  the  heights  of  the  Blue  Kidge  to  the  swamps  of  the 
Chickahominy  and  struck  McClellan  the  first  blow  in  the 
seven  days'  battle  around  Richmond. 


CHAPTEH  L. 

AFTER  the  battle  of  Port  Republic  General  Jackson 
returned  to  bis  camp  at  Elk  Run.  He  issued  an  order 
thanking  his  soldiers  for  their  gallant  conduct,  and  told 
them  that  they  were  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  the 
country.  Among  other  names  -which  he  sent  forward  to 
the  War  Department,  recommending  them  for  promotion, 
most  honorable  mention  was  made  of  Colonel  Reed,  which 
circumstance  was  specially  gratifying  to  Charles,  but 
which  was  far  from  being  sufficient  to  relieve  his  mind 
of  the  sad,  depressing  thoughts  which  clouded  his  spirits. 
William  Dodge  had  been  re-captured  and  brought  back 
to  camp,  and  though  he  did  not  know  it  before,  he  knew 
now  that  he  was  a  prisoner  accused  of  being  a  Federal 
spy;  but  this  fact  did  not  seem  to  be  the  cause  of  the 
dreadful  distress  of  mind  and  heart  and  the  deep  remorse 
which  weighed  him  down  like  a  mill-stone.  He  seemed 
not  to  be  thinking  of  the  dreadful  doom  that  was  await- 
ing him,  but  of  some  wrong  which  he  had  done,  the  mem- 
ory of  which  now  bent  him  upon  the  rack  of  torture. 
Sometimes  he  would  sit  for  hours  with  his  head  bent 
down,  his  face  buried  in  his  hands,  while  the  tears  silently 
trickled  through  his  fingers  and  fell  upon  the  sand,  and 
then  all  at  once  he  would  spring  to  his  feet,  throw  up  his 
arms  and  wail  and  moan,  and  shiver  and  weep  and 
writhe  in  the  contortions  of  despair  as  though  his  soul 
would  burst  with  agony,  exclaiming,  as  he  beat  his  breast 
and  tore  his  hair,  "  Oh  !  if  I  liad  but  known  who  I  am! 
if  I  had  but  known  what  she  is  to  me!"  and  then  as  his 
physical  strength  would  become  exhausted  from  the 
paroxysms  of  grief,  he  would  sink  down  on  his  pallet 
(618) 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  519 

and  weep  in  ilie  most  convulsive  manner,  as  tliougli  Lis 
very  heart  would  break.  "  The  law's  delay  "  is  not  one 
of  the  characteristics  of  a  military  court-martial.  The 
unfortunate  victim  who  finds  himself  accused  of  a  viola- 
tion of  military  rules  has  little  reason,  as  a  general  thing, 
to  complain  of  the  "  law's  delay,"  and  often  the  victim  is 
arrested,  arraigned,  tried,  condemned  and  executed  within 
the  week ;  and,  sometimes,  within  the  same  day. 

William  Dodge  had  done  more  to  aid  the  cause  of  the 
Confederacy  within  the  last  few  days  than  perhaps  any 
other  one  man  in  all  the  rank  and  file  of  Jackson's  army, 
but  men  are  sometimes  very  ungrateful,andthegreatservice 
which  Mr.  Dodge  had  rendered  was  not  counted  unto  him 
for  a  virtue.  Within  four  days  after  the  return  of  Jack- 
son's army  to  its  old  camp  William  Dodge  was  arraigned 
before  the  court-martial  and  accused  of  being  a  common 
spy.  Able  counsel  was  assigned  him  in  order  that  all  the 
forms  of  the  law  might  be  duly  complied  with. 

When  he  was  brought  into  court  he  seemed  to  be  in  a 
state  of  mind  which  might  almost  be  characterized  as  a 
stupor.  He  pleaded  not  guilty  to  the  charge,  but  he  did 
so  in  a  mechanical  way  and  seemed  to  take  very  little  in- 
terest in  the  proceedings  except  rather  as  a  curiosity  to 
know  what  evidence  could  be  brought  against  him. 

General  Reed  was  called  as  the^  first  witness,  but  he 
simply  stated  in  brief  the  circumstances  of  enlistment  by 
the  accused,  his  subsequent  departure  for  Maryland  with 
the  ostensible  purpose  of  soliciting  recruits  for  the  Con- 
federate army,  and  his  recent  return  and  expressed  inten- 
tions. 

Mr.  Prosser  and  Uncle  Ben  were  then  called  in  succes- 
sion, and  as  they  related  the  circumstances  which  attended 
their  efforts  to  learn  the  true  character  of  the  accused  and 
the  final  capture  of  the  dispatches  and  the  copies  pro- 
duced, Mr.  Dodge  seemed  to  realize  the  danger  that  threat- 
ened him  and  the  dreadful  doom   that  awaited  him,  but 


620  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

when  old  Uncle  Ben,  continuing,  told  the  circumstances 
which  led  him  to  suspect  Mr.  Dodge  as  the  would-be  assas- 
sin of  Charles  Reed,  and  ended  by  producing  the  papers 
which  had  been  taken  from  Captain  Green,  Mr.  Dodge 
sprang  to  his  feet  in  a  perfect  frenzy  of  despair,  threw  up 
his  arms,  gave  one  wild  heart-broken  shriek  and  fell  to 
the  floor,  writhing  in  all  the  torturing  agonies  of  remorse- 
ful grief. 

The  scene  was  truly  distressing,  but  the  proof  of  guilt 
was  conclusive.  The  court  found  the  accused  guilty  and 
fixed  the  fifth  day  from  the  day  of  trial  as  the  day  of 
execution. 

Charles  Reed  had  made  a  special  request  that  he  be 
excused  from  giving  testimony  in  the  case.  He  had  also 
applied  for  leave  of  absence  for  a  few  days  in  order  that 
he  might  escape  the  painful  circumstances  of  ^Ir.  Dodge's 
conviction  and  execution,  which  did  seem  inevitable. 
Both  of  these  requests  had  been  granted,  and  he  had  left 
for  home  the  day  before  the  trial,  turning  the  papers 
which  had  been  taken  from  Captain  Green  over  to  Uncle 
Ben  to  hand  to  the  court  when  he  was  called.  And  now 
that  the  trial  was  over,  Uncle  Ben  likewise  asked  permis- 
sion to  return  home,  which  was  duly  granted,  and  the 
third  day  after  the  trial  the  good  old  man  found  himself 
back  at  the  Grove,  where  every  one  was  delighted  to  see 
him,  Colonel  Moore  especially,  and  made  it  manifest  by 
every  means  possible. 

The  sad  story  of  the  disgraceful  downfall  of  William 
Dodge  had  been  told  both  to  Helen  and  Colonel  Moore, 
and  to  each  of  them  the  circumstances  were  exceedingly 
painful.  They,  ]ike  Charles,  could  scarcely  realize  the 
truth,  but  felt  as  though  it  was  but  a  distressing  dream; 
but  when  Ben  came  and  told  them  that  Mr.  Dodge  was 
to  be  executed,  they  were  dreadfully  shocked,  and  in  their 
heart  of  hearts  felt  the  deepest  pity  for  the  doomed  man, 
and  a  most  willingness  to  forgive  him  for  the  wrong 


YANKEE  DOODLE  DIXIE.  621 

which  he  had  done.  Soon,  they  said,  he  will  be  dead — 
dead  and  gone  from  earth — and  "  who  can  war  against 
dumb,  unconscious  clay  ?" 

The  next  morning  Charles  rode  over  to  the  Grove,  and 
Uncle  Ben  went  into  the  parlor  to  pay  his  respects  to  his 
young  friend.  Helen  and  Charles  were  there  alone 
together,  and  they  both  greeted  the  good,  faithful  old  ser- 
vant with  a  respect  worthy  of  his  noble  heart.  They 
invited  him  to  take  a  seat,  but  with  that  appreciation  of 
his  position,  which  the  worthy  always  feels,  he  declined, 
saying  that  "he  only  came  in  for  a  moment  to  tell  Mars 
Charles  howdy,  and  to  hear  from  the  folks  at  the  Abbey." 
He  then  stood  for  a  little  while,  balancing  his  hat  in  his 
hands,  talking  quietly  and  asking  common-place  ques- 
tions, but  seeming  not  fully  at  his  ease,  and  finally  asked 
Charles  when  he  expected  to  return  to  the  army.  Charles 
told  him  in  two  or  three  days  more,  and  then  noticing 
the  serious  expression  of  the  old  man's  face,  who  stood 
with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  spots  in  the  carpet,  said,  "Why 
do  you  ask,  Uncle  Ben;  is  there  anything  you  wish?" 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  that  thar  is,  Mars  Charles ;  I  can't 
say  exactly,  but  I  would  like  to  have  a  talk  with  you 
afore  you  go." 

"  What  is  it,  Uncle  Ben?    Can't  you  tell  me  now?  " 

The  old  man  looked  at  Helen  as  though  debating  in 
his  mind  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  he  could 
speak  before  her,  and  then  said,  "  It  mought  not  be  'gree- 
able  to  Miss  Helen.     'Tis  about  Mr.  Dodge." 

Helen  slipped  her  hand  into  that  of  Charles,  as  she 
drew  nearer  to  him,  and  said,  "  Don't  mind  me,  Uncle 
Ben;  unless  you  really  object  to  speaking  where  I  am." 

"No;  not  that,  Miss  Helen.  'Tis  not  much  after  all 
that  I  have  to  say,  but  his  story  is  so  horrible  I  thought 
you  might  not  care  to  hear  anything  more  about  him." 

Helen  gave  the  hand  of  Charles  a  slight  pressure, 
which  he  interpreted,  and  then  said,  "  Well,  what  of 
him.  Uncle  Ben?" 


Ii22  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

"  I  don't  know,  after  all,  that  it  amounts  to  anything, 
Mars  Charles,  but  somehow  thinkin'  on  his  strange  words, 
and  puttin'  two  and  two  together,  caused  a  strange  'spi- 
cion  to  cross  my  mind  dat  ho  found  out  something  about 
heself  and  Miss  Helen  what  he  did  not  know  before.  He 
did  not  call  Miss  Helen's  name,  but  he  made  mention  of 
some  lady,  and  de  way  he  took  on  when  de  papers  3'ou 
took  from  Captain  Green  was  read  in  court,  I  could  not 
help  thinking  he  was  'luding  to  her.  So  I  'eluded  I 
would  tell  you  all  about  it,  and  show  you  the  papers  what 
T  is  got." 

"What  papers  do  you  mean,  Uncle  Ben?"  asked 
Charles,  somewhat  excited,  despite  his  efforts  to  appear 
calm. 

"  Des  papers.  Mars  Charles ;  but  afore  you  read  dem  let 
me  tell  you  what  happened.  Well,  de  day  before  de 
army  marched,  General  Jackson  sent  Mr.  Dodge  away. 
When  Mr.  Dodge  come  back,  which  he  did  not  do  till 
way  late,  I  heard  General  Jackson  tell  Corporal  Clarke 
to  keep  in  sight  of  Mr.  Dodge,  and  if  Mr.  Dodge  made 
any  effort  to  escape  to,  arrest  him,  but  not  to  let  Mr. 
Dodge  suspect  anything,  if  he  could  help  it.  Do  general 
also  cautioned  me  not  to  let  Mr.  Dodge  see  me  for  fear  he 
might  recognize  me  as  the  one  what  helped  Mr.  Prosser 
on  de  train.  Well,  late  dat  evening  Mr.  Dodge  he  took  a 
walk,  and  Corporal  Clarke  he  took  a  walk  also.  It  seem 
how  Mr.  Dodge  was  tooken  wid  a  fit  down  on  de  river, 
and  Corporal  Clarke  brought  him  to  camp.  Mr.  Dodge 
was  out  of  his  head  when  Corporal  Clarke  brought  him 
back  and  put  him  to  bed.  Mr.  Dodge  did  not  come  to 
heself  all  night;  but  was  all  right  de  next  morning.  In 
de  afternoon  when  de  army  started  on  de  march,  Mr. 
Dodge  he  sat  up  a  little,  and  axed  for  some  coffee  and 
crackers.  I  made  de  coffee  and  Corporal  Clarke  he  took 
it  to  him.  Arter  dat  he  seemed  better  like,  and  lay  down 
.  quite  awhile  real  still.  .  I  was  watchin' frough  a  slit  in  de 


YANKEE    DOODLE   DIXIE.  523 

lent.  All  at  once  I  see  Mr.  Dodge  take  a  package  out  of  his 
coat  pocket  what  was  hangin'  close  by.  He  open  de  pack- 
age, for  it  look  like  it  was  sealed  up,  den  he  read  de  let- 
ter, and  when  he  read  de  letter,  you  never  did  see  sicli 
doin'  as  he  did  do.  He  hollowed  and  cried  and  beat 
his  hands  and  pulled  his  hair  like  he  was  mad,  and  kept 
saying,  *Ef  I  had  only  knowed  who  I  am ;  ef  I  only  had 
known  what  she  was  to  me.'  He  said  dis  over  and  over, 
and  did  look  like  one  crazy,  his  eyes  all  poppin'  out  his 
head  like  balls  of  fire.  Corporal  Clarke  thought  he  done 
had  a  fit,  so  he  ran  for  de  doctor,  and  Mr.  Dodge  he 
jumped  out  de  bed  and  ran  off  down  de  hill.  I  ran  for 
Corporal  Clai'ke,  but  I  missed  him.  When  I  got  back 
dey  was  all  gone.  I  found  dis  paper  lying  on  de  floor. 
I  showed  dem  to  de  judge,  but  he  give  dem  Lack  to  me, 
and  said  dey  had  nothing  to  do  wid  de  case  in  court.  I 
layed  off  to  give  dem  to  you,  but  I  neber  seed  you  any 
more,  but  here  dey  are  and  you  can  read  dem  when  you 
like." 

Charles  took  the  papers,  and  Uncle  Ben  said,  "  You  will 
excuse  me  now,  Mars  Charles,  I  wants  to  go  over  to  de 
Abbey  a  little  while." 

Both  Charles  and  Helen  felt  a  strong  curiosity  over 
the  strange  story  which  Uncle  Ben  had  related,  and,  de- 
spite their  best  efforts,  they  also  both  felt  strangely  ner- 
vous and  excited — a  presentiment  of  approaching  evil 
sent  a  cold  chill  creeping  over  their  limbs,  which  seem  to 
fill  them  with  dread ;  but  Charles  opened  the  package, 
and  they  both  read  together.  The  first  paper  was  a  short 
letter  from  Brown  &  Brown,  attorneys-at-law,  and  was 
as  follows : 

"Washington,  D.  C,  December  19,  1861. 
"Mr.  William  Dodge,  Winchester,  Va.: 

^^  Dear  Sir :  Your  mother,  while  out  driving  this  morn- 
ing, was  thrown  from  her  carriage  and  fatally  injured. 
•♦She  4ied  at  five. o'clock  this  afternoon,     When  told  that 


524  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

she  could  not  possibly  live  more  than  an  hour  or  two,  she 
sent  for  us  and  placed  the  enclosed  paper  in  our  hands, 
with  instructions  to  send  it  to  you  at  once,  which  we  do, 
care  of  General  Banks.  Your  mother  died  intestate.  We 
will  be  glad  to  serve  you,  should  you  need  an  attorney. 
"Very  respectfully, 

"Brown  &  Brown, 

"  Attorneys-at-Law." 

The  other  paper  was  in  a  lady's  handwriting,  and  was 
not  dated,  but  simply  addressed  as  follows  : 

"  To  William  Dodge,  Washington,  D.  C. : 

"  I  am  your  mother,  and  I  write  this  in  accordance  with 
a  fixed  purpose  long  since  formed,  to  take  this  means  of 
revealing  to  you  the  story  of  my  life ;  but  you  will  not 
be  gratified  with  a  sight  of  this  until  I  am  dead  and  gone. 
I  had  resolved  to  take  you  into  my  confidence  and  tell 
you  the  story,  when  you  reached  years  of  discretion ;  but 
discretion  is  a  thing  you  have  never  reached,  and  I  fear 
you  never  will.  From  your  very  cradle  you  have  been 
the  bane  of  my  life.  Revenge  seems  to  be  your  ruling 
passion,  and  to  this  for  any  wrong,  real  or  imaginary,  you 
are  driven  by  some  demon  which  seems  to  possess  your 
whole  soul.  You  I  could  not  trust,  because  from  your 
very  childhood  j^ou  have  hated  me  because  of  the  correc- 
tions which  I  administered  as  your  mother.  Seemingly 
you  are  amiability  personified  ;  but  woe  to  the  one  whom 
you  imagine  has  done  you  a  wrong. 

"But  to  my  story:  I  am  the  daughter  of  William 
Doyle.  My  mother's  maiden  name  was  Reilly — Emily 
Reilly.  They  were  Irish ;  married  and  moved  to  America 
and  settled  in  Virginia.  William  Dodge,  who  had  been 
a  friend  of  my  father  in  Ireland,  became  involved  in 
some  political  intrigue  and  was  forced  to  leave  his  home. 
He  was  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  so-called,  but  a  fiend  in- 
carnate at  heart.    He  came  to  America  and  settled  in  the 


YANKEE   DOODLE   DIXIE.  625 

neighborhood  near  my  father's  home.  Here  he  assumed 
the  name  of  Kelley — Henry  Kelley.  He  became  the 
regular  visitor  at  my  father's  house — the  spiritual  adviser 
of  the  family.  One  Xmas  night  my  father  and  little 
brother  were  murdered.  My  life  was  attempted  also,  but 
I  was  resuscitated.  My  mother  was  accused  of  the  crime ; 
was  tried  and  convicted,  but  sorrow  broke  her  heart,  and 
she  died  a  lunatic.  William  Dodgehad  himself  appointed 
my  guardian,  and  as  such  took  possession  of  all  of  my 
property.  He  moved  to  "Washington,  dropped  the  name 
Kelley,and  went  back  to  his  o  wn  true  name,William  Dodge. 
He  placed  me  at  a  convent.  He  allowed  me  to  see  no 
one.  He  told  me  that  I  was  penniless.  He  converted 
everything  that  I  had  into  money  and  invested  it  in  his 
own  name.  When  I  became  seventeen  he  forced  me  to 
marry  him.  He  gave  me  my  choice  to  remain  in  the 
convent  and  take  the  white  veil  or  to  come  forth  as  his  wife. 
He  professed  much  love  for  me — represented  his  wealth  at 
thousands,  pictured  the  peace  and  luxury  of  his  home 
and  the  happiness  that  we  would  find  there.  I  finally 
consented,  and  we  were  married  after  the  ceremony  of  the 
Catholic  religion.  That  very  night  before  bed-time,  yea, 
before  William  Dodge  had  even  so  much  as  offered  me 
one  caress,  he  was  taken  with  a  spasm  of  the  heart.  He 
thought  he  was  dying.  He  became  more  frightened  than 
any  human  being  that  I  had  ever  seen.  He  called  for  a 
priest,  and  to  him  in  my  presence  made  what  he  believed 
to  be  his  dying  confession.  He  told  that  he  had  mur- 
dered my  father  and  little  brother ;  that  he  did  it  with  an 
electric  battery;  that  his  purpose  was  to  kill  my  father 
and  then  marry  my  mother.  I  fled  from  him  with  hor- 
ror. He  was  my  husband,  but  it  should  be  only 
in  name.  He  recovered.  He  sought  me  diligently. 
He  found  me  at  last,  but  no  power  on  earth 
could  drag  me  back  to  live  with  him.  I  sought  counsel. 
I  sold  my  wedding  trousseau  and  employed  an  attorney. 


526  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

My  counsel  was  a  widower;  he  was  young;  he  was  sym- 
pathetic; he  was  kind  ;  he  was  noble;  he  was  true — he 
was  a  gentleman.  He  returned  me  the  money  I  had  paid 
him  as  a  fee  and  told  me  I  could  not  secure  a  decree  of 
divorce  unless  the  priest  would  consent  to  testify  in  the 
case;  that  my  evidence  as  the  wife  of  the  defendant  would 
not  be  heard  except  as  to  treatment  of  me  by  the  accused. 
The  priest  simply  said  he  had  received  the  confession  as 
a  priest,  and  as  a  priest  he  in  honor  must  keep  it.  The 
sympathy  of  my  counsel  became  deeper  and  deeper  in 
his  heart  and  dearer  and  dearer  in  mine.  He  became  my 
friend,  and  a  truer  friend  the  world  never  gave  to  an  un- 
foHunate  woman.  William  Dodge  refused  after  he  found 
me  to  make  provision  for  my  support.  He  did  nothing 
but  persecute  me  with  his  attentions,  and  finally  circulated 
reports  derogatory  to  my  character  touching  that  friend- 
ship that  was  as  pure  as  the  breath  of  the  angels. 

"After  a  time  my  friend  advised  that  I  go  to  California ; 
that  I  stay  there  one  year,  then  I  could  sue  for  a  divorce 
in  the  courts  of  that  State  and  allege  non-support.  I 
went;  my  friend  kindly  supplied  the  means.  When  the 
year  expired  Ibrought  the  suit;  I  obtained  the  divorce,  and 
a  few  weeks  thereafter  I  was  again  married.  The  mar- 
riage wasprivate,but  legal  inevery  respect;  my  friend  was 
now  my  husband  We  went  abroad  and  spent  the  honey- 
moon traveling  in  Australia.  These  few  days  were  the 
only  days  of  happiness  I  have  ever  known.  We  agreed 
upon  our  return  to  the  United  States  to  take  steps  to  force 
William  Dodge  either  to  leave  America,  or  to  disgorge  his 
ill-gotten  possessions,  now  since  I  was  no  longer  his  wife 
my  evidence  would  be  admissible  against  him  in  a  crim- 
inal prosecution  for  murder,  and  also  in  a  suit  in  equity 
demanding  him  to  surrender  and  deed  to  me  the  property 
of  mine  which  he  had  converted  to  his  own  use.  With 
a  view  to  proceed  against  him,  we  thought  it  best  to 
allow  our  marriage  to  remain  unknown  in  the  East  until 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIB.  527 

my  husband  could  secure  all  the  evidence  possible  in  re- 
gard to  the  murder,  and  I  secure  what  information  I  could 
at  Washington  as  to  the  property  converted.  William 
Dodge  had  been  served  in  the  divorce  suit  as  a  non-resi- 
dent of  the  State  by  publication.  He  had  never  seen  the 
publication,  nor  heard  of  the  suit,  so  when  I  returned  to 
Washington  he  was  ignorant  of  what  had  happened;  but 
unfortunately  for  us,  he  bribed  one  of  the  clerks  in  the 
post-office  and  intercepted  one  of  my  letters.  He  learned  our 
purpose,  he  telegraphed  and  ascertained  the  fact  of  the 
divorce;  the  letter  disclosed  the  marriage;  he  flew  to  Vir- 
ginia in  a  rage  of  passion  ;  he  rushed  into  the  office  of  my 
husband,  drew  a  pistol  and  killed  him  before  he  could 
speak ;  then  turned  the  weapon  against  himself  and  scat- 
tered his  brains  on  the  floor.  You,  who  are  called  Wil- 
liam Dodge,  are  the  legitimate  child  of  Berkeley  Page,  you 
are  the  half  brother  of  Mrs.  Beverley  Moore,  and  Helen, 
your  niece,  so  far  as  I  know,  is  your  only  living  relative." 

The  startling  information  burst  upon  Helen  like  a  clap 
of  thunder  from  a  cloudless  sky.  She  clasped  her  hands, 
screamed,  and  would  have  fallen  to  the  floor,  had  not 
Charles  caught  her  in  his  arms.  Her  distress  was  piti- 
able in  the  extreme;  she  buried  her  face  in  Charles's 
breast,  and  w^ept  as  though  her  heart  would  burst.  She 
felt  disgraced  ;  she  felt  unworthy  of  that  love  which  she 
would  willingly  give  her  life  to  retain.  Charles  tried  to 
comfort  her ;  he  pressed  her  to  his  heart,  and  called  her 
the  dearest  of  names.  He  brushed  away  her  flowing 
tears,  and  begged  her  not  to  be  distressed ;  but  there  was 
no  comfort  for  her  then.  She  felt  herself  unworthy  of 
the  love  which  she  had  cherished  as  the  light  of  her  life, 
and  she  still  cherished  too  passionately  and  exclusively, 
to  desire  that  the  one  she  loved,  with  all  the  intense  earn- 
estness of  her  soul,  should  sully  his  name  by  giving  her 
life  to  his,  and  in  the  midst  of  her  paroxysms  of  grief 


528  YANKEE   DOODLE    DIXIE. 

she  iinally  made  him  understand  what  it  was  that  she 
felt. 

But  the  love  of  Charles  Reed  was  an  ocean — deep  and 
wide ;  grand  as  it  was  wide,  and  glorious  as  it  was  deep ; 
and  it  rolled  an  endless  tide  of  pure  affection  and  con- 
stant devotion  that  could  never,  no  never,  be  lost.  He 
clasped  her  again  and  again  to  his  heart,  and  meant  and 
felt  all  that  he  said,  when  he  told  her  that,  though  the 
world  might  rise  up  to  point  the  finger  of  scorn, he  would 
shield  her  with  his  life,  and  comfort  her  with  his  love, 
down  to  the  last  drop  of  blood  in  his  veins,  and  the  very 
last  pulsation  of  his  heart. 

Later  that  night,  when  Helen  was  more  composed  and 
had  retired  to  her  room,  Charles  completed  the  reading 
of  Mrs.  Dodge's  letter.  It  explained  her  reasons  for  re- 
taining the  name  of  Dodge.  Her  husband,  Mr.  Page, 
was  poor.  The  death  of  William  Dodge  sealed  her  lips 
forever,  in  a  court  of  equity,  as  to  anything  she  had 
heard  him  say.  There  was  no  legal  way  now  to  recover 
the  estate;  but  as  his  widow  the  law  gave  it  to  her.  The 
record  of  the  divorce  was  buried  away  among  the 
archives  of  some  county  court  in  the  far  West.  That 
divorce  would  never  be  heard  of.  As  to  who  was  the 
father  of  her  child,  she  so  hated  and  loathed  and  despised 
the  "wretch  who  had  murdered  her  father,  she  rather  pre- 
ferred to  bear  the  shame  of  her  supposed  inconstancy 
than  to  allow  any  one  to  believe  that  she  had  even  for 
one  moment  consorted  with  the  base  fiend  she  had  fled 
from  the  same  hour  she  married  him.  Besides,  to  con- 
fess him  to  be  the  father  of  her  child,  would  be  to  turn 
over  to  that  child  the  greater  bulk  of  the  estate  as  her 
co-heir.  She  saw,  when  it  was  too  late,  the  mistake  she 
had  made.  She  had  wept  over  that  error,  but  the  step 
once  taken  could  never  be  retraced.  Poverty  would  have 
been  a  thousand  times  better,  accompanied  w^itli  peace, 
than  wealth  loaded  down  with  regrets. 


CHAPTER  LI. 

THE  first  train  the  next  morning  tliat  swept  along  the 
Virginia  Midland  railroad  carried  Charles  Eeed  and 
Helen  Moore  to  Charlottesville.  Tliey  secured  a  carriage 
and  pressed  forward  with  all  possible  speed.  Seven 
o'clock — five  hours  more  to  the  time  appointed  for  the 
execution  of  William  Dodge — thirty  miles  the  distance; 
they  must  make  it.  William  Dodge  must  be  saved,  if 
salvation  be  for  him  possible.  On  and  on  they  go,  the 
horses  fairly  smoking  from  heat.  Ten  o'clock  ;  they 
reach  the  foot  of  the  mountain ;  twelve  miles  more  to  go; 
one  horse  falls  dead  lame ;  he  can  do  no  more.  They 
buy  another  and  start  again,  but  the  mountain  is  steep ; 
the  wheels  turn  slowly;  they  reach  the  summit,  11:30, 
and  five  miles  yet  to  make.  Down  the  western  slope 
they  rush,  threatening  destruction  to  the  carriage.  They 
come  in  sight  of  tiie  camp  ;  they  see  the  troops  forming 
in  a  hollow  square;  they  hear  the  drums  beat  the  funeral 
march.  Haste  I  oh,  haste!  they  cry.  The  driver  plies 
his  whip;  their  hearts  seem  to  rise  in  their  throats;  they 
see  a  puff  of  white  smoke  shoot  up ;  they  hear  the  heavy 
reverberations  of  a  fired  cannon  rolling  over  the  hills. 
The  12  o'clock  gun  is  fired.  Too  late!  oh,  too  late!  and 
Helen  Moore  sinks  back  in  tlie  carriage  and  bursts  into 
tears;  still  the  driver  presses  on.  They  see  Wihiam 
Dodge  standing  bound  near  a  tree;  twelve  soldiersdrawn 
up  in  line  close  by.  Charles  leaps  from  the  carriage  and 
rushes  towards  the  officer  in  command  of  the  troops; 
'tis  his  father;  Charles  weaves  his  hat  as  he  runs,  but  no 
one  seems  to  notice  him;  he  hears  his  father  speak,  but 
be  could  not  catch  the  words;  then  he  heard,  "Fours 
34  (529) 


530  YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE. 

right,  march  !"  The  troops  wheel  into  column,  the  bands 
strike  up  a  lively  air,  and  Charles,  out  of  breath,  sinks 
down  upon  a  log.  William  Dodge,  for  the  present,  is 
safe.  The  surgeon,  at  the  last  moment,  had  declared  the 
prisoner  a  lunatic.  Humanity  revolts  at  the  idea  of 
putting  to  death  one  bereft  of  reason.  General  Reed 
assumed  the  responsibility  to  postpone  the  execution  and 
refer  the  matter  back  to  the  general  commanding. 

General  Reed,  out  of  the  great  love  which  he  bears 
Helen  Moore,  is  constrained  to  use  his  influence  in  behalf 
of  the  unfortunate  prisoner.  General  Jackson  is  touclied 
with  sympathy  by  the  distress  of  the  noble  woman,  who 
forgets  her  wrongs  and  pleads  for  the  life  of  her 
mother's  brother.  He  recommends  the  pardon  prayed 
for  in  Helen's  petition  ;  mentioned  the  lunacy  of  the  con- 
demned as  a  matter  to  be  considered,  and  forwards  the 
papers  to  Mr.  Davis,  the  President  and  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  all  the  Confederate  forces.  Mr.  Davis  delights 
to  gratify  the  wishes  of  his  trusted  officers,  and  returns 
an  unconditional  pardon.  William  Dodge  was  saved 
from  an  ignominious  death,  but  the  life  that  was  left  to 
him  was  a  deep  and  dreadful  void.  His  malady  was  in- 
curable— hopeless  melancholy.  He  sank  lower  and  lower 
— inch  by  inch,  he  was  dying.  He  was  taken  to  the 
Grove ;  every  effort  to  restore  his  lost  reason  was  made, 
but  he  was  beyond  the  power  of  medical  skill.  Hours 
and  hours  he  would  sit  with  his  head  bent  down,  shading 
his  eyes  with  his  hands,  never  speaking,  but  occasionally 
mumbling,  "  Had  I  but  known  !  "  "  Had  I  but  known ! " 
He  did  what  he  was  told  to  do.  He  ate  sparingly  of  what 
they  gave  him  to  eat.  He  never  moved  except  when 
some  one  led  him  ;  nothing  could  arouse  the  torpor  of  his 
reason.  He  made  no  complaint,  yet  he  seemed  to  suffer, 
for  often  the  muscles  of  his  face  M^ould  work,  his  lips 
trembled,  and  tears  trickled  down  his  cheeks.  Poor  be- 
nighted soul!  fast   he  was   failing, fast   he   was  fading 


YANKEE    DOODLE    DIXIE.  531 

away ;  life's  lamp  was  flickering  in  the  socket.  His  sad 
condition  distressed  Helen  and  she  often  tried  to  kindle 
again  some  spark  of  reason,  but  every  effort  seemed  vain. 
He  would  look  at  her  with  his  mournful  eyes — eyes  once 
bright  and  sparkling,  now  so  sad,  and  say,  "  Had  I  but 
known!"  "Had  I  but  known!"  Faster  and  faster  he 
faded ;  lower  and  lower  he  sank.  He  lay  upon  his  bed, 
scarcely  breathing,  Helen  sat  beside  him.  She  took  his 
hand — her  heart  was  full ;  she  murmured :  "My  mother's 
brother  !  "  "My  mother's  brother!"  A  tear  trickled  over 
her  cheek  and  fell  upon  his  face.  He  looked  up,  there 
was  light  in  his  eyes.  He  seemed  to  know,  he  carried  her 
hand  to  his  lips  and  said  faintly,  so  faintly  it  was  but  as 
the  motion  of  breath,  "  Pray  for  me,  Helen  ;  pray  for  my 
soul's  salvation."  She  sank  to  her  knees,  she  poured  out 
her  heart  in  prayer — she  implored  mercy,  she  begged  that 
he  might  be  forgiven,  she  arose  from  her  knees.  William 
Dodge  was  dead  !  Let  charity  hope  that  his  spirit  was 
wafted  upward  upon  the  pinions  of  that  deep  and  earnest 
prayer;  for  who  can  estimate  the  boundless  circle  of  God's 
mercy  ?  Who  can  hope  for  salvation,  who"  will  limit  His 
goodness  and  forgiveness  ? 


CONCLUSION. 

IT  came  at  last,  the  10th  of  February — the  happy  day/ 
It  broke  along  the  East  with  all  the  roseate  beauty  of 
the  glories  of  dawning  in  the  fair  land  of  the  Sunny 
South  ;  the  first  beams  of  the  rising  sun  flashed  along  the 
valleys  and  o'er  the  hills,  starting  millions  of  diamond 
dew-drops  to  dancing  in  the  pleasing  fields  of  the  lovely 
landscape,  while  to  the  hearts  of  Charles  and  Helen  it 
brought  the  bright  light  of  hope  and  sweet  contemplation 
in  the  radiant  arms  of  joyful  love  and  heaven-blessed 
affection.  High  noon  came,  and  as  the  sunlight  filled  the 
earth  with  glory  and  the  sky  with  splendors,  and  the 
brilliant  chandeliers  filled  the  darkened  parlors  of  the 
spacious  apartments  of  the  elegant  home  at  the  Grove, 
Charles  Reed  and  Helen  Moore  stood  up  before  the  world 
to  pledge  the  sweetest  pledge  that  mortal  ever  gave  or 
heaven  witnessed — mutual  love,  mutual  trust,  mutual 
comfort,  mutual  protection,  and  life  and  loving  constancy. 
Their  hope  was  one,  their  hearts  were  one;  their  lives 
should  be  one,  their  souls  as  one  ;  they  breathed  the  vows 
of  mutual  love,  they  pledged  their  hearts  for  mutual  hap- 
piness ;  they  passed  under  the  bans  into  the  bright  light 
of  wedded  life,  fulfilling  the  divinely  appointed  mission 
of  creative  pleasure,  while  Heaven,  bending  from  the 
skies,  stooped  and  blessed  their  vows  with  hope  and  hap- 
piness and  crowned  "Love  the  light  of  all  lifeP' 
(532) 


RARE  BOOK 
COLLECTION 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

CHAPEL  HILL 

Wilmer 
945 


